The chargesheet includes statements from 40 witnesses and 32 supporting documents.
Published Mar 28, 2025 | 1:03 PM ⚊ Updated Mar 28, 2025 | 1:03 PM
Ragging not only undermines the dignity of the victims but also disrupts the learning environment, leaving lasting scars on the psyche of those affected.
Synopsis: The chargesheet, to be filed on the 45th day of arresting the accused, said the senior students took money from the juniors to buy drugs.
Five students, accused of ragging at the Government Nursing College in Kerala’s Kottayam district, extorted money from juniors to buy drugs, according to the investigation team.
The accused, Samuel Johnson (20) from Valakom, Kottayam; Rahul Raj (22) from Vandoor, Malappuram; Jeeva (18) from Nadavayal, Wayanad; Rijil Jith (20) from Manjeri, Malappuram; and Vivek (21), were expelled after a video of the ragging incident went public in February.
Investigators will submit a chargesheet in the ragging case to a local court in Ettumanoor on Friday, 28 March. The chargesheet mentioned extortion for procuring drugs.
The accused allegedly derived pleasure from the victims’ suffering and recorded the attacks on their phones, the chargesheet said.
A crucial piece of evidence in the case was the video footage of the assault, which the police have subjected to scientific examination.
The chargesheet included statements from 40 witnesses and 32 supporting documents.
It stated that neither the college authorities nor hostel in-charges were aware of the ragging, and no prior complaint had been filed by the victims.
Consequently, only the accused students have been named in the case.
The video, which shocked Kerala, showed a lotion-smeared junior student bound to a cot and repeatedly stabbed with a geometric divider. The senior students were seen laughing as their victim pleaded for mercy.
In another act, dumbbells were placed near the victim’s genitalia while one of the accused stabbed him with the divider.
The junior student was tortured after he refused to heed the seniors’ demand for ₹2,000. It was reported that the juniors used to pay the seniors ₹800 every week to buy alcohol.
The incident came to light after the junior student, who was seen in the video, informed his parents. It has been alleged that one of the seniors, a Left-leaning Kerala Government Nurses Association member, misused his position to torment the juniors.
