Five medicos jailed for ragging junior

Five students of a medical college in Kalwa were on Friday sent to judicial custody for allegedly ragging a fresher in the college hostel on Thursday night. A sixth student, who has also been booked, is absconding. All six students, aged between 23 and 25, are interns at Rajiv Gandhi Medical Hospital, Kalwa.

The complainant, a 19-year-old boy, was allegedly slashed with a shaving blade, stripped to his undergarments and made to do a “vulgar” dance. The teenager, Harish Chowdhary, informed the college authorities of the humiliation that his seniors had subjected him to.
He was advised to lodge a police complaint against the seniors who tortured him.

The arrested students — Mangesh Rane, 25, Achyut Narote, 23, Prabhakar Talavde, 25, Viresh Naste, 23, and Shailesh Gadakh, 23, were produced in court on Friday. The student, who is absconding, has been identified as Sharad Patil, 23.

In his statement to the police, Chowdhary said that Sharad Patil had sent for him to the hostel where at least three other students, who had been ragged, were also present. “After talking down to me, Patil pulled my hair and banged my head against the wall,” mentions Chowdhary’s statement.

The statement adds that he was asked to remove his clothes and was made to sing and dance in his undergarments. “Patil, who was consuming alcohol, threatened to sodomise me... Patil and his friend, Achyut Narote, beat me up and slashed me six times on the hands and chest using a shaving blade.”

Chowdhary has alleged that Patil’s act was to exact revenge as he [Patil] had recently asked Chowdhary to buy him cigarettes and Chowdhary had refused.

Senior inspector of Kalwa police station, Prakash Nilewad, confirmed the arrests of the five interns. “While the arrested students have been sent to magisterial custody, the main accused, Sharad Patil, is absconding,” said Nilewad.

Dean of Rajiv Gandhi Medical College, Chaity Mitra, said, “We will inform the university of the conduct of the accused students. It is up to the university authorities whether their probationary licence for internship should be cancelled or they should be suspended them from the internship programme.”

A case has been registered against the students for voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons and for wrongful confinement.

Tortured, humiliated
The complainant, 19-year-old Harish Chowdhary, was allegedly slashed with a shaving blade, stripped to his undergarments and made to do a “vulgar” dance. He informed the college authorities of the humiliation that his seniors had subjected him to, and was advised to lodge a police complaint against them. The arrested students were produced in court on Friday.