Ragging once again reared its ugly head in an educational institution in Odisha when serious allegations of violent treatment by senior students with a fresher rocked the State’s premier university, Vani Vihar ( Utkal University) in Bhubaneswar on Friday.
As per reports, a first year IMBA student was allegedly stripped and ragged inside the hostel by some senior students with help of non-students. The alleged ragging incident sparked off clashes between junior and senior students in the Vani Vihar campus. Several vehicles have reportedly been damaged in the post-ragging vandalism in the campus.
Students, who fell victim to the alleged ragging incident, on Friday gheraoed the Vice-Chancellor’s office as a mark of protest.
The junior students are not feeling safe in the hostels as outsiders and non-students are involved in such harassments, the juniors said.
“Following the admissions of first year IMBA students, the seniors have been ragging the junior students. Today, we have staged a demonstration protesting against the ragging of junior students who were stripped naked, beaten up. The seniors are forcing the junior students to call them ‘Sir’,” alleged Santosh Nayak, a student.
Another student said, “The seniors are threatening us inside departments with the help of non-students. Seniors said that ragging is a tradition here. It is absolutely not justified when there is already a ban on ragging at educational institutions in the country.”
Prof Basant Mallick, PG Council Chairman (Utkal University) said, “Some students have alleged that some non-students have ragged them. We will conduct a detailed inquiry into the incident.”
Mallick further stated that anti-ragging measures will be strengthened in the campus. “The existing security set up will be tightened and steps will be taken to regulate the entry gate (VSS Nagar side) after discussions,” he added.