Two first-year business management students at M S Ramaiah Institute of Management (MSRIM) sustained injuries after they were allegedly stripped naked and thrashed by a group of their immediate seniors on Sunday night.
The victims — Sudish and Seemanth Dubey — were admitted to M S Ramaiah Memorial Hospital. The latter is receiving treatment in the ICU, reportedly “for a ruptured eardrum”.
Kamal Pant, Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), said Sadashivanagar police have registered a case of assault against second-year BBM students Varun and Harish, who allegedly had a fight with Sudish and Dubey on Saturday. “The victims in their police complaint have not called it ragging. Based on the complaint, we have detained two students for interrogation. We don’t want to say more about the incident as the investigation is under progress,” Pant said. MSRIM students came out in support of Dubey, a native of Bhopal. The entire first-year BBM class paid a visit to the ICU on Monday morning.
“The injuries are superficial. There are contusion injuries on the neck and face. A Computerised Tomography (CT) scan report is negative,” said Dr Naresh Shetty, president of the International Programme and Strategic Alliance, M S Ramaiah Memorial Hospital.
Students said Dubey and Sudish were attacked by a group of 12-15 members on Sunday night.
“We hear they were attacked for looking at the girlfriend of one of the attackers near the college on Saturday afternoon,” a second-year student said.
“A bunch of second-year students barged into their accommodation on Sunday night, stripped and beat them up. We hear the seniors were intoxicated,” the student said.
The atmosphere in the college was uncomfortable. “We want the college to send a strong message. No student should face this situation,” said one of Dubey’s classmates.
“Our dean addressed us on Monday morning and said the attackers would be suspended for a week. Is this even punishment? We want their degrees to be cancelled.”
Principal Nagarathna told Express: “We learnt about the attack only on Monday morning. It happened on Sunday outside the college premises. The students were residing in rented flats. But we have initiated an inquiry and want to know what exactly happened. We met Dubey and he is doing fine. It is nothing but a clash between two groups of students.”
‘Ragging Happens’
Some law students and final-year BBM students said ragging happens informally in colleges. “In August, we witnessed a first-year BBM girl being ragged by girls from the second year. They made her pay their restaurant bills. Although it was not violent, we approached our head of department, seeking an opportunity to talk to the second-year students.
“We wanted to warn them. Perhaps, if we had our way, Dubey would not have been attacked,” said a third-year student.