Medical student ragged to death

A notorious practice of ragging engulfed one more student. Finding himself up a blind alley, this time, a medical student Aman Kachroo had to sacrifice with his life after he was ragged to death by a group of seniors.

The 19-year-old Medical student, who hailed from Gurgaon, had dreamt to be a doctor from the school age and when he got the opportunity to study Medical at the Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College he burst with joy, but the ill-fated boy didn’t know that time the college would prove for him a death knell.

Aman, after completing his school education from DPS International in Saket, Delhi, had enrolled at the Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical College at Tanda village in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh in August 2008.

After being harassed several times in the past, Aman had even lodged a police complaint against the ragging and harassment. But the ragging did not stop; and at last he succumbed to injuries on Sunday night after being beaten black and blue on Friday night and Saturday morning by the four inebriated seniors.

Initially, the college administration tried to cover up the incident by dubbing it as a suicide case. But after the matter turned hot and police got involved, the principal of the college rusticated all the four accused involved in the brutal ragging.

Himachal Pradesh government later suspended the hostel warden and manager, and the Health Minister, Rajiv Bindal, ordered to undertake strict measures against the offenders.

An autopsy that was recorded in the presence of lawyer confirmed that Aman sustained severe injuries on his chest, ears and face. Police said the preliminary investigation shows that the victim was under extreme stress following the ragging by third-year students and had collapsed on Sunday.

Police had registered FIR against the four accused of which Ajay Verma and Naveen Verma were arrested Sunday, while two others, Mukul Sharma and Abhinav Verma are still at large.

Unfortunately, these kind of incidents still occur despite ragging have been banned by the Supreme Court which has in its ruling directed all educational institutions to take stringent anti-ragging measures, including filing criminal cases against delinquent students. The court has also ordered for a cut in financial aids to educational institutions found protecting students involved in ragging.