The Dharmapuri Government Medical College in Tamil Nadu suspended four third-year MBBS students after a second-year student attempted suicide following alleged ragging. The college also relieved two hostel wardens of duty citing dereliction of duty and failure to protect the student from being ragged.
The suspension of the accused who raped the second-year student has, however, caused resentment among parents and students. They cited the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Ragging Act 1997 that provided punishment not only for the offenders but also for the college authorities who failed to take action against those involved in ragging.
"Ragging is a punishable act with imprisonment for a term which may extend up to two years and shall be liable to a fine which may extend to Rs 10,000 under Section 4 of the Act," said Senthilnathan, a parent of a second-year MBBS student at the Madras Government Medical college .
The 19-year-old male student who attempted suicide has, however, come out of the critical situation and his parents have taken him to his native place, Rasipuram in Namakkal district.
Although, the teen had lodged a formal complaint against the four third-year students for ragging him, which he withdrew later, R. Padmanabhan, Director of Socio-Economic Development Foundation (SEDF), a think tank based out of Madurai, said, "India is not ruled by British, and this is a free country, and there are stringent laws against ragging in place.
I don't know why the authorities have not lodged a formal complaint with the police as the Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act of 1997 provides two years imprisonment, a fine of Rs 10,000 and even Supreme Court has come down heavily against ragging. The suspension for four ragging offenders for seven days is too little punishment in a situation wherein a second-year MBBS student attempt suicide."
Criticisms have come from several corners on the minor punishment meted out to the students who have indulged in ragging of the second-year student.
"It is unfortunate that ragging and sadism are still continuing in medical colleges of Tamil Nadu. To my knowledge, the student who was subjected to ragging hails from a remote area of Namakkal and would have had a lot of aspirations while joining a government medical college and if he tried to kill himself that means he was driven to the edge. The offenders must be strongly punished and the legal course should be taken to prevent such actions in college campuses in future." Dr. Padmavathy, former head of the department of community medicine of a government medical college from Chennai said.
