The horrific incident of a student of Jadavpur University allegedly being pushed to death from the second-floor balcony of his hostel after suspected torture by some senior students has laid bare the persistent menace of ragging in higher educational institutions. The police have launched an investigation and arrests have been made. The university has also taken steps to safeguard freshers. But such measures have, as is often the case, come too late. A study by the University Grants Commission had revealed that about 40% of students in colleges across India are subjected to some kind of ragging; alarmingly, only 8.6% of such incidents are reported. Incidentally, these findings were from seven years after the UGC notified regulations to curb the malpractice. Worse, only 15 states have laws prohibiting this phenomenon. This is in spite of a 2009 Supreme Court judgment directing educational institutions to curb the practice. Some of the accidental deaths of students and campus suicides recorded by the National Crime Records Bureau data could be relevant to ragging. Ragging’s endurance can be attributed to institutional apathy: college authorities — the minders of Jadavpur University are but one example — often look the other way when complaints are brought to their notice.

But there is something more sinister at work than administrative culpability. Ragging is often perceived to be a benign rite of passage for newcomers by both students and educators. Yet what is embedded in this ritual is a toxic mix of masculinity, intimidation as well as a flawed template of fellowship. Worse, it also leads to the genesis of a vicious cycle — seniors who have been humiliated feel entitled to inflict similar trauma on younger students. The guidelines preventing ragging must not only be mindful of implementing administrative measures but also address the psychological elements integral to this perverse tradition.