A 20-year old girl student of the Government Agriculture Engineering College at Baptla in Guntur district attempted suicide on Thursday unable to bear the ragging by seniors.
The girl, identified as Triveni, consumed sleeping pills in a bid to end her life as she could not any more
take the torture and humiliation in the name of ragging. The college authorities shifted her to government hospital at Guntur in a unconscious state, where she is recovering.
In her first statement to the police from her hospital bed, she said that five senior girls used to rag her almost daily since she joined the College. She could not take it anymore when, recently, they took her to the hostel terrace and made her strip and dance to the tune of some Telugu film songs. They also allegedly passed remarks about her physical attributes.
She named five girls, Shravanti, Sowjanya, Praneetha, Nagma and Vanitha, all seniors as her tormentors.
Triveni comes from a poor family in Srikakulam district. Her father, Venkateshwar Rao has lost his eyesight and the family managed to live on the earnings of Adilakshmi, her mother, who did odd jobs for the local people. The family was overjoyed when their daughter, breaking the class barrier got selected for admission into Agriculture engineering college will full government scholarship.
“She had been complaining of ragging since the day she joined the College. But she pleaded with us not to complain to the college authorities because of the fear that it would anger her seniors and may affect her studies,” Venkateshwar Rao said.
College Principal, Satya Narayana , however, tried to give a new twist to the episode. “She has fared badly in the semester examination and was depressed. That could have prompted her to commit suicide,” he said.
The police is yet to book any case of ragging against the five accused. Guntur police said that they were transferring the case to Baptla police station, under whose jurisdiction the crime was committed. The Baptla police will investigate the matter and proceed accordingly.