HT Digital,
Tura, Oct 13: A distressing incident of ragging has surfaced from a hostel at the North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) campus in Meghalaya’s Tura, where a student from Nagaland was allegedly abused by seniors. Initial reports suggest the ragging was communal in nature. The incident occurred on October 8 around 1:30 am.
The victim, a student of the department of Agri Business Management in NEHU, had arrived at the campus for his first day. In the Arabella Boys’ Hostel, he was subjected to abuse by seniors who knocked on his dorm room and took him to an empty room in the hostel. Reportedly, the seniors flashed lights at his face to remain unidentified.
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They asked him to introduce himself in Hindi and when unsatisfied with his fluency, demanded him to perform a ‘naked dance’. The victim was then forced to strip in front of them.
The victim stated that the perpetrators might have recorded a video of the incident. The next day, the victim left the hostel campus and lodged a formal complaint in Nagaland. Following this, the Naga Students’ Union (NSU) in Shillong wrote to the vice chancellor of NEHU Prof Prabha Shankar Shukla and demanded immediate action.
The NSU has asked for legal actions, an FIR, transfer of the victim student to another central university, strict disciplinary actions against the perpetrators in accordance with the university’s anti ragging policies, expulsion of perpetrators, transparent communication from the university and alignment with UGC’s regulations on curbing ragging. Chiran Shimrah, the president of the student body, stated that such an incident brings shame to the student’s community. He warned of strikes and boycotts against NEHU if the university fails to take actions.
