JU internal committee accepts 'ragging theory' in fresher's death case

Kolkata: An internal committee formed by the Jadavpur University (JU) in the wake of the mysterious death of a fresher student on August 10, has accepted the theory of “death due to ragging”.

University sources said the committee came to this conclusion after questioning 25 students who stay in the same students’ hostel in front of which the victim's body was recovered.

The committee members have also questioned the superintendent of the hostel.

The initial findings of the committee as well as those by the police, revealed the kind of psychological ragging the victim had to undergo before his death.

Investigating teams also found out that the deceasedwas even forced to strip off once by the seniors involved in ragging.

The findings revealed that some students of the engineering wing who stayed in the hostel had also taken the lead role so that the main gate of the students’ hostel was locked after the mishap took place, preventing access to the police and mediapersons.

The security person deputed at the gate of the students’ hostel told the investigators that he was forced by the senior students to keep the main entrance gate locked for a prolonged period of time.

Five current students and four former pupils have been arrested so far. Their mobile phones have also been sent to the forensic laboratory for retrieving data.

While three of the arrested have been remanded to police custody till August 22, the remaining six were remanded till August 28.