Heart wrenching stories: The long history of ragging at Pookode veterinary college

Kalpetta: More details about mob trials and ragging held in the past are coming out from Pookode Veterinary College, where Sidharthan, a veterinary student was found dead, after a brutal mob trial and ragging, which led to a statewide protest against ragging in college hostels and campuses.    

 The anti ragging squad initiated action against the perpetrators on Thursday for their roles in these incidents. So far, 13 students were punished, including a former college union president.

As per the information received, two male students from (2019, 2021) batches respectively, too were brutally ragged at their hostels and other places in the campus. They were subjected to intense cruelty and had reportedly slipped into depression. 

The internships of the perpetrators including the former college union president were scrapped. Scholarships of five others were cancelled  as well. 

Two students who had beaten up the student of 2021-batch were suspended for a year. Further investigation will be conducted in the coming days.   

The horrifying details of barbaric acts prevalent in the campus came out during the ongoing investigation on Sidharthan’s death. He was the latest victim of the torture and cruelty.

In 2019, a student who is currently in the last year of his course, was taken to Arun’s (currently in remand) room and was brutally beaten up for almost two hours, once again for allegedly misbehaving with a girl. The victim said that he was forcefully made to apologise in the end. In 2020, another student who was returning after attending his practical exam was attacked by Arun and gang in a similar manner.     

Long lasting scars

The student from the 2020-21 batch who had undergone mob trial and physical torture at the campus prior to Sidharthan had suffered a mental breakdown after the incident. He too was beaten up on the basis of botched up accusations of misbehaving with a girl student. The student did not turn up in the college for the next two weeks after the incident. Unfortunately, there are no witnesses to the incident which reportedly happened in May, 2023.   

The victim now says that he has no complaint in connection with the incident, but the college has initiated action on the basis of   circumstantial evidence.

Post Sidarthan’s death, several instances of ragging came to light. However, not all of these accusations were backed by evidence. As a result, after consulting with the representatives of the parents’ association, the college initiated disciplinary actions against the suspects . According to the committee, the police investigation regarding this will continue and legal steps will be taken based on the investigation.