Five students, including two juveniles of Binayak Acharya college, a government institute in Odisha’s Berhampur town, were charged with the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) on Thursday for allegedly forcing and harassing a minor girl student, police said.
According to the police, the senior students allegedly kissed and forced the minor girl and also made a video. After the video went viral, a probe was conducted which led to the identification of the 12 students involved, said police.
Amidst the incident, the college authorities rusticated the 12 students, including five girls, for their alleged abetment of ragging.
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“We have rusticated the 12 students mentioning their character as ‘bad’ in the transfer certificate. We have specifically mentioned that they were involved in ragging,” said Pramila Khadanga, college principal.
“After the identification of 12 students in the video, we charged five of them, including two juveniles with Pocso Act, for their role in the incident. The video was very disturbing and we wanted to send a strong signal to those who rag their juniors,” said Berhampur SP Vivek Saravana.
“The rusticated students will have to pay heavily for their actions. They will face problems in getting government jobs and drawing passports in their names,” said SP Saravana said.
{{/usCountry}}“The rusticated students will have to pay heavily for their actions. They will face problems in getting government jobs and drawing passports in their names,” said SP Saravana said.
{{/usCountry}}Moreover, police said five girls who encouraged the boys may also be charged under Pocso after consultation with legal experts.
Odisha has always remained in the top-five states when it comes to ragging as per the anti-ragging helpline of the University Grants Commission (UGC).
After two college students in Odisha killed themselves for being ragged by seniors in April and July this year, the state government directed the principals and vice-chancellors of all the institutions to file FIR with the local police against any such incidents.
The educational institutions were also asked to take action against the students found guilty of ragging or abetment of ragging without waiting for the outcome of the police investigation.