Jadavpur University has called a meeting of its anti-ragging squad on Friday to look into a complaint from a postgraduate student that he was verbally abused by senior students and was not feeling “safe” in the university’s main hostel.
A member of the squad said they were trying to get in touch with the complainant, who made the allegation in a letter to the dean of students.
The member said the squad would decide at Friday’s meeting how to go about with the investigation.
“If the complainant cannot be reached, the anti-ragging squad will issue a notification seeking deposition from anyone willing to come forward,” the member said.
The student, who did not reveal his identity in his complaint, appealed for accommodation on the campus because, he said, he was feeling unsafe in the main hostel.
The squad in its meeting will decide on the appeal.
The JU Main Hostel is located outside the university campus.
The university has yet to lodge an FIR in connection with the alleged ragging.
Officiating VC Buddhadeb Sau said they had given the squad 72 hours, from the receipt of the complaint, to submit a report.
UGC regulations on Curbing the Menace of Ragging in Higher Educational Institutions, 2009, says: “The Institution shall file an FIR with the police/the local authorities, whenever a case of ragging is reported, but continue with its own enquiry and other measures without waiting for the… on the part of the police/local authorities.”
When told about the UGC regulations, Sau said: “Let the anti-ragging squad meet and give its report.”
He said: “It is clear from the complaint that things have not changed much in the main hostel. We need to take action if the complaint is found to be true.”
In August, a first-year undergraduate student was allegedly ragged and thrown off a second-floor balcony of the main hostel. He died hours later.
“This time, the first-year postgraduate student has written in his complaint that seniors threatened him that he would be taught a lesson because of his attitude. This suggests that the senior students continue to pose a threat to juniors,” said a JU official.
The father of the deceased student said on Thursday: “I was devastated to learn that ragging is going on unabated at the main hostel. The university seems to have learnt no lesson from the death of my son.”
A member of the anti-ragging squad said a sub-committee is likely to be formed at
Friday’s meeting to
investigate the complaint lodged by the postgraduate student.
A JU official said the victim in his written complaint had mentioned the specific date (November 25) when the alleged harassment took place in the main hostel.
“He has also mentioned that the senior students called a general body meeting that day to remove him from a position he held in the hostel mess,” the official
said.
The squad on Friday will also give its recommendations on the complaint of ragging that was reported in August.
An internal committee has already concluded that the first-year undergraduate student was ragged at the main hostel.
The squad was asked to correct certain inconsistencies in the report and give its recommendations.