An internal committee of Jadavpur University that was constituted to probe the death of a first-year undergraduate because of alleged ragging has said in its report that he “was singled out for ragging” on the night of August 9 and it was “carried out in a systematic planned manner... deliberately isolating him for severe ragging” at the university’s main hostel.
The student died during the early hours of August 10 after he was allegedly thrown off the balcony of the main hostel by the senior students who lived in the same block.
The report, which was tabled before the university’s anti-ragging committee on Friday, says “ragging, in its various forms and extents, has been prevalent at the JUMH” (main hostel) for years.
At the meeting, it was decided that the report would be referred to the anti-ragging squad to decide whether they want to add anything to the report or probe the incident afresh, said JU officiating VC Buddhadeb Sau.
According to UGC regulations, the squad is mandated to conduct a probe into complaints of ragging, but in JU, the squad was allegedly not active.
“Let the squad give its opinion,” Sau told The Telegraph on Friday.
The report says: “As it seems, the first-year undergraduate student was singled out for ragging, which was carried out in a systematic planned manner... deliberately isolating him for severe ragging, while rest of his batch-mates were far from him attending to the hostel GB (general body meeting).”
“He was held back alone, with seniors, including Satyabrata, Md. Arif (Civil, UG-III), Naseem and many others, including pass-outs.”
Providing a detailed account of the torment that the 17-year-old boy had to encounter the report has said: “There was a large mob of seniors present there in both upper and lower staircases, thereby incidentally blocking any escape route for the hapless victim. Information regarding his subsequent movements, just prior to his fatal fall, and eventual fall, is rather uncertain and vague, as none of the deponents gave a clear-cut description of the ‘fall’... which could help in ascertaining the cause and sequence of the mishap.”
The committee has accused the senior students, some of whom are the alleged attackers, of holding a series of meetings after the fall so a general narrative could be produced in the case of a probe.
“After the victim was taken to the hospital in a yellow taxi around midnight of 9th August, there was a series of General Body (GB) meetings of the JUMH seniors / ex-students etc.…..where a general narrative regarding the incident was presented before the hostellers to be followed in toto while being interrogated/ questioned by police, media or University authority,” says the report.
“Interestingly, most depositions by hostel students and representatives of FETSU (faculty of engineering and technology students’ union) told the same narrative, with some minor deviations, to this committee.”