Hyderabad: Freshers Ragged, Forced To Smoke, Drink & Strip At Medical College

In a shocking incident, 30 first-year students were allegedly ragged by their seniors at Gandhi Medical College in Hyderabad, The Times Of India reported.

The victims were forced to smoke, drink and strip at late night some two weeks ago. The newcomers were called to seniors' rooms in two batches of 10 and 20.

The freshers were abused using foul language and were subjected to uncomfortable experiences. In addition to it, the victims were asked to sports wear formal clothes while preventing them from entering library, the report added citing college officials.

Dr K Ramesh Reddy, director of medical education (DME), Telangana said that the victims have confirmed in their letter to the UGC and he described the act act as a gross "violation of human rights". In relation to the incident, 10 students have been suspended from the college.

Reddy ruled out the possibility of revoking their suspension.

"The freshers had identified the 10 seniors during the anti-ragging committee's meeting. And the latter even admitted to their role in the incident," said the DME adding, "Also, given that the freshers had joined only a few days before the ragging happened, there is no chance of them having any animosity with the seniors. Hence, there's no reason to suspect foul play."

It has to be noted that the freshers took up the issue with the UGC directly while the central body informed about the act to the local authorities.

"We received a letter from UGC New Delhi's anti-ragging committee that one of our students had complained about ragging happening in our hostels. This was all that was communicated to UGC by the student. Based on this intimation we conducted a preliminary inquiry," said Dr Reddy.

He claimed that the students began to gradually disclose information about the incident once they felt confident in the support provided by the college's anti-ragging cell. "The students said they were called into the seniors' room in two different batches - one with 10 students and another with 20 - where they were subjected to foul language among other things, which made them uncomfortable," the official said.