Kottayam District Police have arrested five students of the Government Nursing College, Kottayam, Kerala, following complaints filed by first-year students regarding the horrors of ragging they had to endure over the past two months.
The students have been booked under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Kerala Prohibition of Ragging Act. They were produced before the Magistrate on February 12 and remanded for 14 days. The accused—Samuel, Jeeva, Rijiljith, Rahul Raj, and Vivek—are reportedly from Wayanad, Malappuram, and Kottayam districts. The complaints allege that the incidents began on November 16, 2024, and continued until February 10, 2025. The accused are third-year students, while the victims are in their first year.
There were six students in the first-year class, and all of them were subjected to ragging. The harassment began on the very first working day. The victims complained that the accused started ragging by threatening them to transfer money via GPay and even placed a knife on a victim’s neck when he refused to comply with their demands.
The FIR states that on the night of December 13, 2024, the accused stormed into the victim’s room and forced him to lie on the cot. They tied his legs and hands with a cloth, poured lotion over his body, and then inflicted injuries with a sharp weapon. Another victim was ordered to record the entire torture on video. It is alleged that the accused used dumbbells to inflict injuries on the victims’ private parts.
Reports suggest that the money extorted from the victims was used to buy alcohol. Those who refused to give money were summoned to the seniors’ room, where they were forced to kneel throughout the night while being repeatedly slapped. The victims were stripped off their clothes, their bodies were injured with sharp tools, and when they cried, some form of cream was smeared into their mouths.
This paints a grim picture of the law-and-order situation and reflects the collapse of campus discipline. Despite this, the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government and the Home Ministry, headed by Pinarayi Vijayan—CPM supremo and Kerala’s chief minister—continue to boast that Kerala is Numero Uno in all respects.
It is too early to forget the tragic death of Sidharth J.S., a second-year Bachelor of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry student at the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences in Pookode, Wayanad. He was found dead in the hostel a year ago, allegedly due to brutal ragging. Several reports of ragging have surfaced in the media over the past few years, yet anti-social ‘seniors’ continue to terrorize and crush the dreams and hopes of poor students.
