First-year Odisha VSSUT student ‘assaulted, abused’ by senior
SAMBALPUR: A proactive anti-ragging cell notwithstanding, an allegation of ragging has yet again come to fore in Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT) at Burla. A first-year student of department of civil engineering has alleged through a video that he was ragged by his seniors of the technical university. The video went viral on social media on Thursday.
The students alleged that a senior student dragged him while he was returning to the hostel from the classroom with his friends on Wednesday. The senior questioned him about not coming to classes in formal dress but the latter chose to remain quiet. Following this, the senior took him to an area where a group of 25 to 30 second and third year students were present. They beat up the first-year student mercilessly and also verbally abused him.
The student mentioned the names of some students who assaulted him in the video and urged the university authorities not to take the incident lightly. Vice-Chancellor of VSSUT, Atal Chaudhuri, however, refuted the allegation of ragging. He said it was not a case of ragging but a fight between hostel inmates and day scholars which has been going on for the last three days.
The disciplinary committee meeting will be held on Friday and students, who are involved in the incident, will be punished, he said. Earlier in August last year, a video showing around 50 students being ragged by the seniors in the VSSUT had gone viral. In the video clips, the senior students were seen tearing the shirts of the junior students, slapping them and forcing them to dance holding their ears. The VSSUT authorities had then debarred 10 students of the university from appearing the examination for one year besides, slapped fine of `2,000 on 52 other students who were involved in the incident.