A 19-year-old student at Al Qamar College of Nursing in Gulbarga, Karnataka has been admitted to hospital in critical condition after her seniors allegedly forced her to drink toilet cleaner. According to the Dalit woman’s family, who live in Kozhikode, Kerala, she was being ragged by the other students, and had suffered verbal and physical abuse for days before the incident took place on May 9.
The parents only informed the authorities on Tuesday, saying they had been asked to “keep quiet” about the case, and they had focussed on her treatment first. Doctors at a hospital in Thrissur, Kerala, where she has been shifted, said her food pipe and internal organs were damaged by the phenyl. They added that it is too dangerous for them to perform certain necessary surgeries on her right now and will need to wait for six months, the Hindustan Times reported.
The eight students who allegedly ragged her were also from Kerala, her family said. They took her to a hospital in Gulbarga when she started vomiting and collapsed after drinking the liquid. According to her relatives, the college authorities tried to hush up the incident and that the Bangalore Police have not taken any action yet.
The student’s mother has approached Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan demanding action against the senior students, Times of India reported. Kerala’s Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes Minister AK Balan has reportedly promised that the state will pay for her treatment and also take up the issue with the Karnataka government.
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