18 ragging accused face expulsion from hostel
The 18 students of Seth GS Medical College arrested on charges of ragging their juniors were released on bail on Monday but face expulsion from their hostel.
The 18 students of Seth GS Medical College arrested on charges of ragging their juniors were released on bail on Monday but face expulsion from their hostel.
They will also not be able to avail any fellowships or scholarships in the future, nor can they represent the college in any inter-collegiate competition.
This is what a 20-member anti-ragging committee appointed by the Medical Council of India recommended on Monday to the civic authorities after probing the complaints of 10 first-year physiotherapy and occupational therapy students.
Third and fourth year students and interns were arrested on Sunday and charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Maharashtra Prohibition of Ragging Act.
The victims had alleged that the seniors had asked them to strip, use lewd language and perform mock sexual acts at the boys’ hostel in Naigaon on Saturday evening.
The anti-ragging committee of the college, which is attached to KEM Hospital, had been asked to conduct an inquiry and decide on the quantum of punishment. Its report recommending lodging a police report and expelling the students from the hostel was submitted to Additional Municipal Commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar on Monday.
Mhaiskar said the committee’s decision will act as a deterrent. “Students in other colleges like Nair, Sion will be sensitised and also be made aware of the Act, so that they are aware of the consequences of such acts.”
Civic medical education director Dr Sanjay Oak, who headed the committee, said freeships and scholarships conferred to the accused will be rolled back.
The accused had asked juniors to join them at the boys’ hostel to go to a function at Shirodkar Hall in Parel. “It was Saturday so the students had finished their classes by noon. The ragging took place around 3.30 pm,” said KEM’s Deputy Dean Dr ND Bhosle, who is on the anti-ragging committee. He added that they had asked students to sign a bond at the beginning of the academic year, promising that they would not indulge in ragging.