Jadavpur University has also sent an exhaustive report to the University Grants Commission (UGC) on multiple queries about the alleged ragging and sexual harassment of the 17-year-old undergraduate student that led to his death.
Kolkata: Three more persons were arrested on Friday in connection with the death of a first-year undergraduate student(UG) after being allegedly ragged and sexually harassed last week, taking the total number of senior students and ex-students apprehended in the case to 12. Jadavpur University(JU) has also sent an exhaustive report to the University Grants Commission (UGC) on multiple queries about the alleged ragging and sexual harassment of the 17-year-old undergraduate student that led to his death, as directed by the statutory body.
What Happened?
The 17-year-old student died after falling from a second-floor balcony of the main boys’ hostel near the campus on August 9. The 17-year-old deceased was a first-year undergraduate student of Bengali Honours. Nine former and current students of JU were arrested for allegedly ragging and sexually harassing the teenaged Bengali honours student leading to his death after falling from a second-floor balcony of the main hostel building last week. They were remanded to police custody. The student fell around 11.45 pm on August 9 and died while undergoing treatment at a hospital the next day. Kolkata Police has taken cognisance of JU students’ social media posts, including photographs, which suggest that there was an element of sexual harassment in the ragging of the student. The deceased was a resident of Bagula in Nadia district and an undergraduate student of Bengali (Honours).
University Sends Exhaustive Report to UGC
Registrar Snehamanju Basu told news agency PTI that the university sent a detailed compliance report backed by documentary evidence before the deadline of 12 am on Thursday. The police said that the three who were arrested during the day are residents of the Purba Bardhaman, Nadia and Murshidabad districts. One of them is currently pursuing a PhD course from a private institute and the other one was a post-graduate chemistry student. The third one is a fourth-year computer science student, a police officer said, PTI reported. They were summoned to the Jadavpur police station and questioned during the day. They were arrested as their replies were “incoherent”, he said.
Jadavpur University Student Death Case: needs to be freed of “anti-national elements”, says senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari
Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Friday said the Jadavpur University campus, where a first-year undergraduate student died last week after being allegedly ragged and sexually harassed by seniors, needs to be freed of “anti-national elements”. Adhikari, along with other party MLAs, met the family of the deceased in Nadia district and assured them of all help. “We are with the family and will help them in whichever way they want. What has happened is unfortunate, but the state administration cannot escape responsibility,” Adhikari added.
He also hit out at the ultra-left student unions at JU, a day after members of one of such organisations, All India Revolutionary Students Federation (AIRSF), and the BJP Yuva Morcha clashed outside the varsity where Adhikari had gone to address a public meeting. “The anti-national forces need to be ousted from the JU campus. This anarchy cannot be tolerated. What has happened is completely anarchic and unacceptable. Next week when the assembly session resumes, we will force Education Minister Bratya Basu to table the action taken report in the assembly,” the BJP leader further added.
Adhikari on Friday lodged a police complaint alleging a “premeditated attack” on him by the AIRSF workers accusing them of being a part of a group that made JU “a den of anti-national and anti-social activities”. “They harbour anti-establishment and secessionist ideologies: who are always criticizing the government, but at the same time clinging on to the institution, even after their formal association is over, to keep on enjoying the subsidised benefits meant for the students,” he said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. Adhikari, who enjoys Z category security, alleged in the complaint that he was suddenly attacked by seven-eight people as he was leaving the venue.
“Though I do not know their names but I will be able to identify them if they are brought before me,” he said.
BJP Yuva Morcha (BJYM) workers blocked the arterial S C Mallick Road for half an hour near the varsity in protest against the dismantling of their podium by Kolkata Police on Friday. They were on a dharna since August 16 against the alleged incident of ragging leading to the death of the student.
BJP South Kolkata district President Sanghamitra Chaudhuri told PTI that the police tried to dismantle the stage at the behest of the ruling TMC despite the BJYM having taken prior permission for it. On the face of protest by BJYM, police relented and the saffron camp members again climbed the podium. The demonstration will continue till August 19.
The CPI(M)’s student wing SFI also demonstrated before the Jadavpur police station, affecting traffic movement on Friday evening, demanding arrest of the BJYM members who allegedly beat up RSF activists. “Though none of those beaten up belong to SFI, they are students fighting against the attempt to take over JU by BJP,” Subhadip, a spokesperson of the agitators, told PTI. “We also demand a speedy investigation into the death of the fresher, arrest of all those involved, an immediate end to the practice of ragging,” he said.
(With Inputs from PTI)
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