Girl commits suicide after being ragged in Kerala, three final year students arrested

Kozhikode: Six final year students, including three girls, of a private college near Vadakara here have been arrested on charges of ragging and abetting the suicide of a junior student of the same college, police said today.

The final year students of B.Sc. Computer Science discipline in Malabar Higher Education Society (MHES) at Cherandathur were arrested last evening under section 306 (abetment of suicide) of IPC and Kerala Prohibition of Ragging Act, 2009, Vadakara Circle Inspector, Viswambaran said.

Later, they were produced before the Judicial Magistrate at Vadakara who remanded them in 14 days judicial custody, he said, adding that their bail applications would be heard tomorrow.

On July 23, Hasinaz Hameed (19), a second year B.Sc Microbiology student of the same college, was found hanging inside the bathroom of her house in Thodannur.

Her relatives had filed a complaint alleging that she had taken the extreme step following ragging by her seniors.

However, the college management denied any instance of ragging on the campus.

Students belonging to ABVP had boycotted classes in various colleges in Vadakara taluk on July 25, demanding action against those involved in the alleged ragging incident.

Members of Students Federation of India had also taken out a protest march towards the college campus demanding a fair inquiry into the incident.

On June 2, a 19-year-old Dalit girl of Malappuram district, was admitted to the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital here with severe stomach problems after she was allegedly ragged by her seniors, police had said.

The girl, who was studying in a nursing college in Karnataka, was allegedly forced to drink toilet cleaning solution by eight of her seniors, who also belonged to Kerala, in the college hostel, in May, they had said.