KOTTAYAM: Five third-year nursing students at the Government Nursing College in Kottayam have been arrested for allegedly ragging first-year students.
The arrested are second-year general nursing students Samuel Johnson (20) and Jeeva NS (19) and third-year students Rahul Raj KP (22), Rijiljith C (21) and Vivek NY (21).
According to victim students, the ragging had been going on for nearly three months at the institute. The police said the ragging began last November, shortly after classes of the first-year batch began.
Police added that they are investigating whether more students are involved in the case.
The victim students alleged that they were forced to endure various forms of physical and mental abuse, including being made to stand naked and being subjected to brutal acts using dumbbells typically used for physical exercises.
They also alleged that they were injured with compasses and similar objects followed by the application of lotion on the wounds.
Additionally, the victims reported being coerced into having cream applied to their faces, heads, and mouths.
The complaint also stated that senior students regularly extorted money from juniors on Sundays to buy alcohol and frequently assaulted them.
The victims were even forced to consume alcohol, with seniors recording videos of them doing so and threatening to release the footage if they reported the ragging incidents.
Unable to bear the harassment any longer, three students finally lodged a complaint with the Kottayam Gandhinagar police.
Following this, the police registered a case.
The college principal has placed the students under suspension under the Prohibition of Ragging Act of 2011.