Ragging of juniors: Ten medical students held, let off

Ten students of the KVG Medical College Sullia were arrested on the charge of ragging their juniors. The students were produced before a court and released on bail later.

The suspects are as follows- MBBS students: Krishna Kumar (24), son of Premkumar K R, native of Palakkad; Kannan A P (22), son of Subramanya, also from Palakkad; Farhan Mohammed (21), son of Abdul Salam, Thiruvananthapuram; and Sanjay Krishnan (23), son of Somasundar Panikker, Alappuzha; BDS students: Abel Roy (21), son of Raj Kurien, Thiruvananthapuram; and Jatin Jose (21), Kottayam; MBBS students: Wasim Zuber (26), son of Zuber Poyyakkal, Kannur; Nibin Rahim (23), son of Rahim, Kollam; Neeraj Raviprasad (23), son of Valsala Raviprasad, Malappuram; and BDS student Amal Raj (23), son of Valsala Kumaran, Pattanamthitta district, all from Kerala state.

SP Bhushan Borase told DH, “As the students had to write exams, they were released on bail, but not without being reprimanded by the judge, who categorically told them to mend their behaviour.”

In his complaint to Sullia police on January 3, Nishanth (20), son of Ramanandan, a native of Palakkad and second year MBBS student of the college, had said that the suspects had summoned him and his friends to the room of Kannan, also a suspect in the case, near Ayurvedic college at Sullia Kasaba village on December 28.

It was around 9.15 pm, when the victims went inside the room only to be assaulted by the suspects. Neeraj, who took the victims to task in raised tone, chastised them for not giving due respect to seniors before slapping Ashish, a friend of Nishanth.

Another suspect Krishnakumar slapped Nishanth, when the enraged latter questioned him for beating them. When the friends of Nishanth tried to restrain the suspects from assaulting them further, other suspects in the case Nibim, Rahim, Krishnakumar and Wasim assaulted Nishanth.

Following this the victims raised an alarm, attracting passersby. Fearing trouble, the suspects let off the victims, only to follow them later on a motorcycle. Neeraj and Kannan took Nishanth to the room again on the pretext of brokering truce. However, Nishanth had to face their wrath again, as Krishna Kumar pushed him towards the window grills and also issued a life threat, warning to get rid of him (Nishanth) and his friends during Sullia fair.

Nishanth lodged a complaint with the college principal on January 2 itself, before knocking on the doors of the police following day.