Five students of the Al Qamar College of Nursing in Karnataka's Gulbarga have been booked for ragging a Dalit student and forcing her to drink phenyl, reported the Times of India. Doctors at a hospital in Thrissur in Kerala where the victim is admitted, said the 19-year-old's food pipe and internal organs were damaged by the toilet cleaner.
Those booked in the case include Lakshmi and Athira, from Kerala, and Krishna, Shilpa and Joe. The victim also hails from Kerala. "The charges include attempt to murder, besides sections of the Kerala Ragging Act and Atrocities under SC/ST Act," said Jaleel Thotathil, circle inspector of Kozhikode. Police have set up a probe team of 13 officers led by DSP Jahnavi to investigate the incident, which took place on May 9.
According to the victim's family, she was being ragged by the other students, and had suffered verbal and physical abuse for days before the final assault. The parents only informed the authorities on Tuesday, saying they had been asked to “keep quiet” about the case by college authorities, and they had focussed on her treatment first.
The student’s mother had approached Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan demanding action against the senior students. 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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