Rag me not

Ragging is a harsh reality which still exists in our country. In most cases, ice-breakers take an ugly turn. When a fresher resists the ‘requests’ of his/her senior they start pestering and the person feels humiliated. In some cases the seniors beat the person and in extreme cases, the freshers commit suicide when they cannot bear the continuous humiliation.

Recounting his harrowing experience, Anand Singh, says, “Though I completed engineering five to six years back, I still remember vividly my harsh ragging experience. I belong to Hyderabad and I secured a seat in an engineering college in Mahbubnagar. Due to personal reasons I could not pursue engineering right after Intermediate and so I was the eldest in the class. Seniors started calling me ‘uncle’ and kept teasing me that I was too old to attend classes. I used to ignore, but one day I could take it no longer and I retaliated. That night nearly eight to 10 people barged into my hostel room and beat me up till I fell unconscious. The next day they went to the principal and accused me of stealing their things and that was the reason they bashed me up. I called my parents and then the faculty tried to hush it up. As I had two more years to complete the course,­­­­­ my parents refrained from complaining to the police as they thought the repercussions after the complaint would be worse. When I think of it now, I feel angry. I should have done something to teach my tormentors a lesson.”

Any form of ragging should not be ignored. Students who face anything related to ragging can register a complaint on national anti-ragging toll free helpline 18001805522 and register a case against the offenders.

“As soon as we receive a complaint from a student we register a complaint. Within five minutes to 24 hours we send information to the Vice-Chancellor of the university, college authorities, DSP and SHO of the area from where the complaint has been registered. The authorities concerned will take appropriate action on the offender. We work 24X7,” said an operator of the helpline.