BHUBANESWAR: Ragging Free Campus Abhiyan (RFCA) on Sunday sought Crime Branch inquiry into the alleged suicide of a Plus III first-year girl in BJB Autonomous College due to harassment by the seniors. The body also renewed its demand for enactment of the Prohibition of Ragging Act in line with other States to prevent such cases in Odisha.
RFCA convenor Tejeswar Parida said the Prohibition of Ragging Act has already been enacted in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Maharashtra, UP, and West Bengal. He demanded that State Government order CB probe into the death of the girl student. He also sought to know why the police are investigating the matter instead of the Human Rights Protection Cell.
A suicide note purportedly written by her alleging harassment by three senior girl students has also been recovered by the police. Considering this, Parida said the State government should immediately enact the Prohibition of Ragging Act to make campuses ragging-free. Political parties should take up the matter for discussion in the Assembly, he said.
Apart from this, he demanded a State-level anti-ragging task force be created to stop incidents of ragging. The task force should be formed immediately to review guidelines framed by the members of the judiciary at the Central level for their implementation in Odisha. A helpline desk also needs to be set up at the HRPC office to deal with the grievances related to ragging in educational institutions, Parida said.