Police in Kerala’s Kottayam have arrested five students of government nursing college in Kottayam after first-year students from their institute complained to the police, chronicling the horror they have had to endure in the name of ragging over the last two months.
The students have been booked under several sections of the BNS and the Kerala Prohibition of Ragging Act and will be produced before a court on Wednesday. They hail from Wayanad, Malappuram and Kottayam, police said.
The alleged incidents began from November 16 last year and lasted till February 10 this year.
One of the students has alleged that the ragging began with the seniors threatening them to GPay money to their account. Later, they allegedly placed a knife to the neck one of the complainants because he did not “respect” seniors.
According to the FIR, on the night of December 13, 2024, the accused stormed into the room of one of the complainants and forced him to lay on the cot. They allegedly tied his legs and hands with a cloth and poured a lotion over his body before inflicting wounds using a sharp weapon. Another student was allegedly forced to videograph the torture. It is also alleged that the accused used dumbbells to injure the private parts of one of the complainants.
In January, the accused asked a junior to cough up money – police say much of this was used to buy alcohol – and when he refused, he was told to “report” to the room of a senior, who made him stand on his knees through the night while slapping him on the face.
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The students told police they were afraid of disclosing the incidents even to their family members.