Allahabad: In a bid to stem ragging, the Indian Institute of Information Technology in Allahabad has slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 each on 19 female students for allegedly harassing the first year students.
"The action has been taken in view of the Supreme Court's judgement, whereby all centres of higher learning had been instructed to curb the menace of ragging by way of stringent and exemplary punishments," spokesman of the IIIT-A, Pankaj Mishra, said.
Mishra said that the matter came to light last week, when the warden of the girls' hostel Shveta Singh reported the matter to the IIIT-A Director MD Tiwari, who decided to impose a fine on the girls of BTech II year and withdraw scholarships of those among them who are getting it.
He, however, asserted that the alleged ragging incident "involved no physical or mental torture, a fact acknowledged by the warden herself" and that the girls, all of them students of BTech II year, while admitting to have called their juniors for a "chat" insisted that it was a "friendly matter".
Meanwhile, the IIIT-A administration has asked the freshers to come forward and put their side of the story.
"Depending on the feedback, further course of action may be decided", Mishra added.
All the 19 female students have been instructed to deposit their fines by August 14, he said.