Ragging in Hostels

Ragging in hostels, often neglected, can take sinister and life threatening forms

Although the practice has been long-standing, the uproar over ragging in hostels is not more than a few years old. Ragging is a criminal offence. In an April 2010 verdict on ragging, the Delhi High Court noted that ragging in hostels often takes an ugly form and damages the lives of students who come from different backgrounds and states.

Medical and Engineering colleges are especially notorious in context of ragging. Ragging often takes violent sexual forms leading to emotional breakdown or suicide by students. There have been several cases where freshers were asked to strip, perform sexual or potentially injurious acts. Since hostels are exclusive places of residence and are usually not under the direct watch of authority, insularity from rules is presumed. A destructive subculture of ‘getting to know each other’ through often disturbing and violent means seems to be thriving in these spaces.

Flawed justification

But for long, cries of protests fell on deaf ears. What seems to evade the defenders of ragging is that it is often a case of sexual harassment, rape, physical and psychological abuse.

If you think it is only ‘a way of getting to know each other,’ then it’s probably time for you to stop thinking all together. As educated adults, we should be able to distinguish between abusive behaviour and codes of sociality. Ragging culture draws from an existing framework of hierarchy based on age, gender and even caste. It promotes and perpetuates abuse and exploitation of the weak by the strong.

It is also argued that ragging makes a student brave enough to face the challenges of the outside world. Even if we leave the state of the victim aside, one can ask how can an act of compromising another person’s dignity be considered as preparing one for harsher conditions. Yet, preposterous as these arguments are, they remain standing justifications in favour of ragging.

Strict action is the need of the hour

In 2009, a second year student of Computer Science in Bhagalpur, was fined and his scholarship withdrawn when a fresher complained that she was being ordered to kiss her seniors. In a different setting, this would clearly and unquestionably qualify as sexual harassment. The girl complained to the District Magistrate and Sub-divisional Officer. Prompt action was taken against the culprit. He was fined Rs 20,000 and warned that further complaints against him would lead to expulsion.

This is good news for those about to join a hostel. The punishment, if caught in an act of ragging, could result in

• withholding scholarships or other benefits
• debarring from representation in events
• withholding results
• suspension or expulsion from hostel or mess, and the like.

Furthermore, the institution faces severe repercussions if it fails to curb ragging. The University Grants Commission (UGC) or other funding agency may consider withdrawing financial assistance. Failure to prevent ragging may also be construed as negligence on part of the administration including principals, wardens and superintendents. Institutions are, therefore, under pressure to launch the anti-ragging drive seriously.