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14 Assam dental college students suspended from hostel on ragging complaint
The government dental college in Assam’s Silchar said the students accused of ragging their juniors have been allowed to attend classes and suspended from the hostel because there was no allegation of physical assault.
SILCHAR: A government dental college in Assam’s Silchar has suspended 14 senior students from the hostel for allegedly ragging juniors, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
The decision to expel the 14 students from the hostel was taken on a complaint filed by 20 first-year students on December 1.
The first-year students complained to the University Grants Commission (UGC), said the dental college principal Manjula Das. The college’s Anti-Ragging Monitoring unit received the complaint from UGC and inquired into the allegations.
“They named seniors from different years in the complaint and we immediately identified the accused,” she said. They have been expelled from the hostel for six months since the junior students hadn’t been assaulted.
“The punishment is defined based on the intensity of the crime and in this case, the victims were not physically assaulted. We haven’t stopped the accused from attending the classes but they won’t be able to stay in the hostel,” the principal added.
A first-year student said the ragging had been continuing for quite some time but they decided to file a formal complaint after the recent incident at Dibrugarh University where a student jumped off the hostel’s second floor.
“We were facing minor humiliation here but if we don’t stand against it now, things may turn worse like Dibrugarh University,” the student, who asked not to be named, said.
Cachar superintendent of police (SP) Numal Mahatta said that they are keeping an eye on the situation but they cannot intervene unless a complaint is lodged.
“The education institute is looking at the matter and we are ready to support them. But we cannot intervene unless they lodge complaint,” he said.
