Ragging: Junior Students Made To Kneel, Kicked In Stomach At Odisha’s VSSUT

Burla/Sambalpur: After Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) and the nursing college of the institute at Burla, an incident of ragging at Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT) has triggered panic among the parents and guardians in Odisha.

In a complaint lodged in the anti-ragging cell of VSSUT, four second-year students have alleged that they were continuously harassed by a group of fourth-year students of the Vashisth Hostel for some days.

According to the complainants, some senior students in a drugged state knocked on their door around 4 am on March 28. They then took them to their room and asked them to kneel down and introduce themselves. The senior students later smoked ganja and puffed out the smoke to their faces and kicked them on their stomach and back.

The junior students also alleged that they were subjected to this inhuman physical torture for three days in a row. The seniors also threatened them with dire consequences if they disclosed this incident to anyone, they added.

Talking to the media, VSSUT in-charge vice-chancellor Prof BB Pati said that the disciplinary committee had a meeting on Tuesday. “I have asked the committee to probe the incident and submit a report at the earliest. On the basis of the report, stern action will be taken against those involved in this incident,” he pointed out.

This is the third incident of ragging in the VSSUT in the last three years.

On February 14, 2020, a case was registered against some senior students for ragging and thrashing two junior students inside the campus while in another incident in August 2019, a case was registered against a group of senior students for beating up junior students and forcibly stripping them inside the campus. A video clip of this incident had sent shockwaves across the state.

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