A day after 10 first year students were allegedly ragged at the Naigaon hostel of KEM's Seth G S Medical College, the police filed an FIR and arrested 18 senior students.
The students, who will be produced before a magistrate's court could face suspension from college. Those arrested by the Bhoiwada police, were identified as Swapnil Ganwile, Avinash Likne, Harshal Wankhede, Devendra Kulkarni, Ravi Singh, Anand Bhosale, Prasang Jayesh, Javed Khalangade, Pravin Patil, Ganesh Chandran, Ketan Kakade, Bhushan Gosavi, Hasan Taskari, Avinash Padavale, Hetal Sumara, Akshay Mane, Satish Dhavale and Tejas Khanvokar.
They are all second and third year students, and have been booked under Section 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC.
"They have also been booked under Section 4 (penalty for ragging) of the Maharashtra Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1999," said Vikram Patil, senior inspector of Bhoiwada Police Station. "After their inquiry, the college asked us to register a case and we have arrested the accused," Patil said.
The incident occurred when the senior students lured the juniors to the Naigoan hostel under the pretext of arranging a party for the new year. Once there, they forced the junior students to participate in "embarrassing acts". The preliminary inquiry report of the college said that the incident was a clear case of ragging, wherein seniors asked first year students of the Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy course to perform a strip-tease act.
Dr Sanjay Oak, dean of KEM Hospital to which the medical college is attached, said, The inquiry conducted by the 20-member anti-ragging cell shows that the students were asked to remove their clothes and perform some obscene acts.
"As per the Maharashtra Prohibition of Ragging Act 1999 we have seven days to decide on disciplinary action to be taken against the students. The final decision, however, will be taken by the additional municipal commissioner," Dr Oak added.
Given the severity of the incident, the college's anti-ragging committee interrogated the victims and the accused for over eight hours. The parents of the students both the victims and accused also gathered at the college.
The parents of a junior student staying at Kandivali alleged that though their son did not stay in the hostel, he too was coerced to go there. They said, "Every day our son returns home around 11 pm. However, when he did not return even after 11.30, we called him. He told us about the ragging, that seniors asked him to remove his clothes and perform a sexual act which he refused."
Another parent from Ulhasnagar said, "My son often complains that seniors are rude. He even asked us to buy him formal shirts as seniors did not like him wearing casual clothes. He told me that the seniors had organised a party and that he wouldn't be able to return home. But after midnight he called up and told me about the incident."
Another junior student who did not wish to be named, said: "The seniors harass us and even ask us to complete their assignments. If we refuse, they threaten to stop us from giving our examinations."
Meanwhile, Mayor Shraddha Jadhav visited KEM Hospital to inquire into the matter. She said, "Ragging is a serious issue. The students involved must be punished so that other students in future will refrain from indulging in ragging."
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