The Hindu : Front Page : A student’s tale of torture

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 12, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Front Page

Front Page

A student’s tale of torture

Staff Reporters

Coimbatore police form teams to nab five accused students

— Photo: Vipin Chandran

P.S. Akhil Dev with his brother at home in Kochi on Saturday.

Kochi/Coimbatore: The torment fails to fade from P.S. Akhil Dev’s memory. It has robbed him of his sleep and his parents do not want him to continue his studies. “We want him back with his health intact,” says his father Sunil Parameswaran, a scriptwriter for films.

The violent ragging that this 19-year-old first-year BBM student in PSG Arts and Science College in Coimbatore was subjected to a month ago has left him with “nine holes in the retina and an impaired hearing.” That is apart from the back injuries and the mental trauma that he is trying to overcome with the help of psychiatric counsellors.

On March 7, five seniors ragged him in his private hostel room and the seriously injured boy was bundled in his car and driven to Kerala. “They threatened to kill me if I lodged a police complaint,” says Akhil.

He underwent treatment at a private hospital in Kochi before being admitted to the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College. As per the report of an ophthalmologist who treated him at the Medical College, Akhil had a “floated and blurred vision” in both eyes when he was brought there. He had a few holes in the peripheral retina of the right eye and some more in the retina of the left eye. Barrage laser treatment for sealing the holes was performed on him in two sittings, on March 13 and 20 last.

The parents approached the college authorities to take appropriate action against the victimisers. “However, instead of taking action against the victimisers, the college authorities called both parties and attempted to settle the issue. We had given in writing that action as recommended by the Raghavan Committee be taken against the aggressors, but they were more concerned about the college’s repute,” Mr. Parameswaran alleges.

He also alleges that he was offered “cash compensation.” Would that redeem the damage caused to my son, he asks.

The Coimbatore city police on Saturday formed three teams to nab the five students wanted in connection with the assault of the student at a private hostel in the city’s Peelamedu area. The teams fanned out to destinations in Kerala.

Akhil Dev on Friday filed a complaint with the Commissioner of Police, Coimbatore City, K.C. Mahali, stating that he was staying in a private hostel in the airport area.On March 7, five students, Aswin, Ajmal, Arjun, Mihashil and Shameer, broke into his room and assaulted him and his friend Tonny. The complainant said he sustained serious injuries in his eyes. He had furnished medical records for having undergone surgery and treatment in hospitals in Kerala. The victim’s parents had also preferred a complaint to the Principal of the college, Sheela Ramachandran.

The Peelamedu police registered a case against the five students under Sections 147 (unlawful assembly), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 355 (assault or use of criminal force with an intent to dishonour a person otherwise than on grave provocation), 506 (i) criminal intimidation of Indian Penal Code and section 4 of Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Ragging Act.

The Principal was unavailable for comment. Police sources said that an inquiry by the college authorities was under way and that the five students had been suspended.

Vice-Chancellor of Bharathiar University G. Thiruvasagam condemned the act. “Suspension is too light a punishment for ragging. The University Grants Commission and the Government see ragging in a serious light. So, I have directed the college to extend maximum punishment to the erring students,” he told The Hindu.

He had sent a directive to the Principal to dismiss the five students and initiate criminal action against them. He said ragging in any form, whether inside the college premises or outside, should be dealt with in the same manner.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page