KASARAGOD: Schools are hesitatingly reopening after one year and a half as Covid cases are ebbing. But for a few students in some schools, ragging their juniors to establish their dominance continues to be on top of their minds.
On Friday, a video of a group of senior students cutting the hair of a class XI student went viral on social media. They were soon identified as students of Government Higher Secondary School at Uppala in Kasaragod district, and the incident reportedly happened on Tuesday (November 23).
The junior student, a native of Kunjathur in Manjeshwar, sported long hair. His seniors in Class XII had ordered him to get a haircut. On Tuesday, when the boy turned up without a haircut, his seniors took him to a roadside eatery opposite the school and cut his hair.
They took videos of the ragging and shared them on their school WhatsApp groups. By Friday, the videos became public. In the video, one senior can be seen holding the junior student’s head while another is recklessly cutting the hair using a pair of dull scissors.
Though the incident happened on Tuesday, it was not brought to our notice, said principal Sunil Chandran. “We came to know of the incident on Friday. The students are from our school but the Class XI student has not yet filed a complaint,” he said. The school has, however, called a meeting of the parents and teachers on Saturday to discuss the matter, he said.
Late in the evening, the victim-student filed a complaint with the Manjeshwar police, accusing nine students of ragging him. He named one student and eight other unidentified students in the complaint. Manjeshwar station house officer Santhosh Kumar A said nine students have been charged with wrongful confinement (Section 342 of IPC) and using criminal force to dishonour the victim. “We cannot register a ragging case without the principal or the school’s confirmation,” he said.
The Kerala State Commission For Protection of Child Rights has registered a case on its own after seeing the video. Commission chairman K V Manoj Kumar has asked for reports from the Deputy Director of Education, the District Police Chief, and the Manjeshwar station house officer on the incident.
ZThe All Kerala School Teachers’ Union (AKSTU) -- affiliated to the CPI -- has demanded strict action against the students who ragged freshers. Ragging is a disgrace to any civilised society and an obstacle to peace in educational institutions, said AKSTU district secretary Sunil Kumar Karicheri and president Vinayan Kallathum.