ELURU: Tension prevailed at National Institute of Technology (NIT) campus at Peda Tadepalli village in Tadepalligudem mandal on Tuesday when students resorted to dharna, threatening to commit suicide if the decision to expel a student and suspend five others, accused of ragging a student on the campus, was not withdrawn. Earlier in the day, NIT Anti-ragging Committee issued orders expelling a senior student, Guna Sai Prakash, and suspending five students for two years for indulging in ragging in the first week of February. The committee also expelled nine students from the NIT hostels.
Following the decision, students boycotted classes on Tuesday afternoon and staged a sit-in demanding withdrawal of the orders. With over 300 students staging a protest and threatening to commit suicide, the college management and police, who rushed to the spot on being alerted about the agitation, had a tough time pacifying and persuading them to end their agitation. Following an assurance from the college authorities that they would speak to the higher-ups and make efforts to get the quantum of punishment reduced, the protesting students relented and withdrew their agitation at 6 pm.
It was on February 2, the incident of ragging was reported and the students staged agitation against the incident. The college management swung into action and suspended the five main accused for two days. It asked the disciplinary committee to inquire into the incident. Meanwhile, the victim, a student from Bihar, lodged a complaint with the police against his seniors accusing them of ragging him. A case was registered against 15 students.
After the inquiry, the college management expelled Guna Sai Prakash, a senior B Tech student and suspended Saket, Srinivas Rahul, Nagesh and Vishnu for over two years from the college. It also expelled nine students from the hostel. Condemning the action of the college committee, students maintained that it was not a case of ragging, but a clash between two groups. Institute coordinator S Srinivas said that it was the decision taken by the National Institute of Technology ’s national-level anti-ragging committee after inquiry into the incident.
Students threaten suicide
With over 300 students staging a protest and threatening to commit suicide, the college management and police had a tough time pacifying them.Following an assurance that they would speak to the higher-ups and make efforts to get the quantum of punishment reduced, the students withdrew their agitation
at 6 pm.