FIR against 12 people in JB College ragging case in Assam’s Jorhat

According to a police officer, a case has been filed against 12 people by a premier college in Assam’s Jorhat district on allegations of ragging raised by a junior hostel inmate and pressuring him to withdraw a complaint against them.

According to him, the police have begun an investigation, but no arrests have been made so far. The principal of Jagannath Barooah (JB) College filed a complaint against the 12 accused at Jorhat Police Station on Thursday, based on a written submission from the aggrieved student.

The case comes on the heels of two allegations of ragging in Dibrugarh.

“We received the complaint on Thursday evening,” the police officer said of the J B College incident. We filed a FIR today after reviewing it.” According to the FIR, eight current and one former students of the institute are among those accused of ragging. Another three people have been identified as allegedly pressuring the student to withdraw his initial complaint to college officials.

According to college officials, the student, who is in the first semester of a three-year degree programme, approached the Syed Abdul Malik Hostel authorities in early September with a complaint about “being in an uncomfortable situation” in the hostel. Since then, the student has left the hostel.

They said the decision to file the FIR was made after the student approached the authorities three days ago.

The college’s anti-ragging committee has also been tasked with investigating the matter, and it will submit its report within seven to ten days, according to college officials.

In the Dibrugarh University incident, which occurred on November 26, a first-semester M.Com student was brutally tortured, after which he jumped from the second floor of the hostel to save himself from ragging and is currently receiving treatment at a local hospital there. On Thursday, the student underwent spinal cord surgery. Four varsity students were rusticated for three years, while 18 others were expelled. Police have already apprehended five seniors, and an investigation is underway to find the remaining suspects.

In the second incident, two doctors enrolled in post-graduate studies at Assam Medical College were suspended from classes for six months and expelled from the hostel for allegedly engaging in ragging.

With multiple ragging cases coming to light, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Thursday that the government will take tough measures to eradicate ragging from society.

He stated that a campaign will be launched soon to ensure that all former students staying illegally in college and university hostels are forced to leave the premises, which he claims will prevent 60% of ragging cases.

Ragging incidents will be controlled if college and university administrations and police work together, according to the chief minister.