Jadavpur Teen, Stripped Naked, Ran Room-To-Room To Escape Ragging: Probe

The 17-year-old student of Jadavpur University, whose death has sparked a debate on ragging, was stripped and paraded naked at the hostel on campus, police investigation into the tragedy has found.

The first-year undergraduate student fell to death from the second floor of the university's main hostel on August 9. His family has alleged that he suffered ragging and sexual harassment at the hostel. Police have made 13 arrests in the case so far.

Police sources said they have questioned boarders and staff members at the hostel.

The teenager, they said, was paraded naked as part of a ragging exercise. He was ragged for over an hour and he ran from one room to another to escape bullying, the probe has found. The student also faced homosexual slurs during the ragging episode, the sources said.

Police have evidence against at least 12 of the 13 accused arrested so far, the sources said. They added that police are considering invoking the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

The tragedy at the prestigious institution has reignited the conversation on ragging on campus and whether the current rules are enough to tackle this menace.

The incident has also sparked a political row. The Opposition BJP has accused the ruling Trinamool Congress of inaction. The Mamata Banerjee-led party has responded by blaming Governor CV Ananda Bose, saying he is "100 per cent responsible" for what is happening at the university.

The Governor is Chancellor of the University and is empowered to make appointments to top posts there. He had called an emergency meeting at Raj Bhavan today to take a stock of the investigation.

Earlier, responding to Education Minister Bratya Basu's "100 per cent responsible" remark, the Governor had told news agency ANI, "I'm a responsible Governor. I will be very glad if someone acknowledges it."