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Jadavpur ragging case: Police move court, eye Pocso charges
Police earlier said the teen allegedly fell from the second-floor balcony of his hostel where he was staying since August 6, after enrolling for the Bengali Honours undergraduate course at the university
Police in Kolkata on Friday sought a court’s permission to invoke provisions of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act against 12 current and former students of Jadavpur University (JU), who were arrested in connection with the death of a 17-year-old student last month, an officer aware of the details said on Friday.
The 12 students were booked under section 302 (murder) of Indian Penal Code and section 4 of West Bengal Prohibition of Ragging in Educational Institutions Act after the first year student from Nadia district was found lying naked in a pool of blood in front of the main hostel building outside the university campus on August 9.
The deceased’s family alleged he was a victim of ragging at the hostel premises. An internal panel set up by the varsity to probe the incident later confirmed the student was severely ragged by seniors hours before his death.
“We have requested a city court for adding section 12 (punishment for sexual harassment against a child) under the Pocso Act against the 12 arrested people,” a senior police officer said, seeking anonymity.
Police earlier said the teen allegedly fell from the second-floor balcony of his hostel where he was staying since August 6, after enrolling for the Bengali Honours undergraduate course at the university. His body bore several injury marks and he was rushed to a private hospital where he died at around 4.30am on the following day.
“Investigations revealed that the student was stripped, paraded naked and forced to lie face-down,” another police officer said, also seeking anonymity.
Besides six current and six former students arrested, one more former student was held for allegedly preventing police from entering the varsity campus during the course of investigation but was later released on bail.
On Tuesday, JU’s internal committee recommended expulsion of four students who are among those arrested. “The four were present during the August 9 incident. They have been arrested and their role in the incident was confirmed by the inquiry panel,” said a person aware of the details.
Additionally, the panel also asked that a police case be filed against six former students, who are not among those arrested, the person added. JU’s interim vice-chancellor Buddhadeb Sau declined to detail the panel’s recommendations, but said it recommended punishments for all students present in the hostel block the night the student died.
Days after the incident, on August 11, the varsity had asked all first-year male boarders of the main hostel to temporarily shift to a new facility after a section of students and teachers alleged that former students frequently visited and stayed in the premises and sometimes, even harassed the freshers.
Both the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights had pulled up JU authorities for allegedly flouting guidelines of the Supreme Court and University Grants Commission (UGC) on ragging. A four-member UGC team visited the varsity to review anti-ragging measures on Monday.
