The police have arrested four senior students and the warden of the ladies hostel of the College of Agricultural Engineering at Baptla in Guntur district in the wake of attempted suicide by a 20-year old ragging victim.
Confirming the arrests, Guntur District Superintendent of Police Mahesh Chandra Ladda told HT that the girl`s family lodged a formal complaint on Friday, helping the police to initiate action.
The victim, Triveni, a first year student of government-run College of Agricultural Engineering at Baptla, had named five girls, all her seniors, who used to rag her regularly.
Preliminary investigation by the police have revealed that the girl was ragged for weeks before resorting to the extreme measure.
Police said that one of the girls named by her have left the hostel and efforts are on to trace her.
Soon after the news of the arrest of the hostel warden Sushila and four girls spread, about two hundred students landed at Baptla police station and launched a dharna demanding the release of the arrested.
They argued that the whole issue was an internal matter and the girl should not have complained to the police, bringing disrepute to the institution. The students have threatened to intensify the agitation unless the arrested women were released.
{{/usCountry}}They argued that the whole issue was an internal matter and the girl should not have complained to the police, bringing disrepute to the institution. The students have threatened to intensify the agitation unless the arrested women were released.
{{/usCountry}}Police sources at Hyderabad said that they were keeping a close watch on the situation in view of the sudden turn of events. Additional Superintendent of Police Ranganath was camping at Baptla.
Meanwhile, inquiries at Amaravati Hospital at Guntur, where Triveni is undergoing treatment, revealed that it would take at least two to three weeks for the victim to get back on her feet. She is also reportedly suffering from mental trauma and would not like to go back to the same college.