In response to the recent ragging incident at a hostel on the Tura campus of the North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU), the varsity’s anti-ragging committee convened an emergency meeting on Friday to address the issue.
In a press statement, the panel said the incident has been met with swift and decisive action. The university had earlier constituted an investigation committee to lead a comprehensive inquiry into the matter, with the committee being headed by Prof Lucy Zehol, and has acknowledged the seriousness of the situation and is working closely with the local police to identify and apprehend the culprits, it said.
The victim was a student from Nagaland and was subjected to abuse at the hands of seniors. Some of the ragging was communal in nature.
The student was of the Department of Agri Business Management and it was his first day on campus when he was subjected to ragging inside the Arabella Boys’ Hostel on October 8 between 1:30am and 2am.
On the night in question, he was led by a group of students who had knocked on his dorm room door and taken to an empty room in the building.
These other students trained flashlights on his face so that he could not identify them properly. He did, however, note that they were fluent in Hindi. This was after they ordered him to introduce himself in Hindi and were unhappy with his lack of fluency in the language. Thereafter, he was instructed to “entertain” the others and perform a “naked dance” as he was a Naga.
NEHU Vice-Chancellor Prof PS Shukla has also visited the Tura campus where he had extensive discussions with senior university officials and Tura campus police personnel to ensure that every effort is being made to resolve the matter.
Following the night of terror, the victim understandably left the campus and returned to Nagaland where he filed a police complaint. However, the anti-ragging committee is now finding it difficult to communicate with him for its own investigation.
In the interim, NEHU administrators have taken “proactive” steps to address the situation. A three-member committee has been constituted, comprising two faculty members, one from the Shillong campus and one from the Tura campus, along with one student representative from the NEHU student body. The panel will seek the consent of the victim’s family and make a visit to his hometown in Nagaland to gather necessary information and offer support.
Shukla has reportedly given his assurance that stringent action will be taken against the culprits once they are identified and that the university has been maintaining close contact with the victim’s family and ensuring that they receive the necessary support and assistance during this challenging time.
Updates on the investigation will be provided as soon as significant developments occur, NEHU said.
