The student is being treated at the Kozhikode Medical College.
Highlights
- Nursing student harassed for 5 months by seniors; made to drink phenyl
- The victim, daughter of a daily wage labourer, was studying on a loan
- Principal first confirmed the incident, later rejected ragging allegation
A nursing student is in a critical state after being forced to drink toilet cleaning fluid during alleged ragging by her seniors at a college in Karnataka last month.
The incident took place at the Al Qamar College of Nursing School in Gulbarga on May 9.
The first year student from Kerala has been in hospital since then, with several internal burns. She was shifted to the Kozhikode Medical College after have spent over a week in the ICU at a hospital in Karnataka. Her condition is still critical.
The victim's mother is a daily wage labourer, who took a loan of Rs. 3 lakh so that her daughter could become a nurse.
"She can't eat any solid food. Why did they have to do this to our daughter?" said a family member.
In her statement to the police, the student has alleged that she was tortured for over five months. "I have been mentally tortured by my third year seniors in last five months. They told me that I am dark and that's why no one likes me and I am left without a father. They used to force me to keep my hands lifted up. They held my mouth open and forced me to drink toilet cleaning lotion."
Doctors say the toilet cleaning fluid has burnt the student's internal organs.
The Principal of the nursing school, Dr Esther, has denied that the incident was a case of ragging. "There is no ragging involved. The girl drank the phenol because of some family problems," he said.
The Gulbarga police have formed special teams to investigate the case. Three technical teams will carry out a parallel probe into different aspects.