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Solan school suspends five students for ragging
All five accused students are residents of Punjab and are studying in Classes 11 and 12. They will be handed over to their parents. The victim is also from Punjab.
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The residential school in Dagshai in Himachal Pradesh’s Solan district has suspended five students who have been booked for allegedly assaulting a Class 9 student and subjecting junior students to ragging, intimidation and abusive behaviour.
All five accused students are residents of Punjab and are studying in Classes 11 and 12. They will be handed over to their parents. The victim is also from Punjab.
School principal Ravindra Vohra said all five students were suspended the day after the ragging complaint was received and that an investigation into the matter was initiated. The governing body will take action against the students accused of the assault. The parents of the accused students have been informed.
The action comes after a video of the assault went viral. The footage purportedly shows one of the students slapping the junior, while abusive language can also be heard.
According to police, the FIR was registered at Dharampur police station on the basis of a joint complaint submitted by Talwinder Manes and others. The complainants alleged that on September 5, the accused students forcibly dragged a Class 9 student out of his hostel room and assaulted him.
“The accused students had allegedly been subjecting junior students to ragging, intimidation, physical assault and abusive language for the past four months and were also stated to be carrying weapons. The students are stated to be frightened and under severe mental stress,” Solan police said.
Section 3(2) of the Himachal Pradesh Educational Institutions (Prohibition of Ragging) Act, 2009, and Sections 115(2), 351(2)(3), 352, 126(2) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita have been invoked in the FIR.
On Tuesday, a police team visited the school. Statements of two of the six victims were recorded before the magistrate. The family members of the victim had accused the principal of not cooperating. School principal Ravindra Vohra’s statement was recorded on Monday evening.
Terming the incident “serious”, chief minister’s principal media adviser Naresh Chauhan said action would be taken in accordance with established procedures. “Clear protocols and laws exist regarding ragging. Action will be taken against those who violate these rules,” he said.
Chauhan added that parents send their children to boarding schools with trust, making such incidents extremely serious.
