Coimbatore:
What makes educated college students in the country bully, beat up and humiliate their juniors? Ragging just keeps happening despite the laws and now it's nearly caused a 20-year-old first year student his eyesight.
Akhil Dev, the student who was ragged, has had to go through two major surgeries to save his eyes. All because his seniors thought beating him and punching him on his eyes was all part of ragging.
The first year student of the PSG College of Arts & Science in Coimbatore was staying at a private hostel with another classmate.
When five seniors came and asked them for money, the boys said that they didn't have any money and then they were thrashed.
Akhil says it wasn't the first time. Senior students had extorted money earlier as well. He says it was a regular feature.
The college, which suspended the seniors, desperately tried to work out a compromise and didn't register a case with the police. The principal now says there was little she could do since the incident didn't take place on campus.
According to the Raghavan Committee recommendations, even cases of ragging, in private hostels or lodges outside colleges, have to be reported to the police, but the principal has chosen to deal it herself.
A case was finally registered on Friday after Akhil's family went directly to the police, a month after his nightmare began.
Today, the young student is back home in Kerala, trying to recover, trying to fight, so that others like him don't suffer.