Kanpur: The Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K) has suspended 16 students for three years and six others for a year after they were found guilty of ragging their juniors, a newspaper based in India, the Hindustan Times reported.
The decision was taken by the IIT-K’s senate, the apex decision-making body, at a meeting held on Monday night. However, it decided against filing police complaints as that would have jeopardised the students’ future career prospects.
The third-year students are guilty of making their juniors strip and do objectionable acts to each other. The ragging was recorded on cell phones and circulated on social media groups.
About 30 junior students filed a complaint to the dean of student affairs against 50 seniors, saying they were thrashed, abused, and forced to do inhuman acts on August 20.
IIT-K’s deputy director Dr Manindra Agarwal said the 16 students were expelled for three years as the charges against them were “extremely serious”.
The senior students will not have the right to appeal for mercy during the expulsion period and can appeal only after the completion of the suspension period and would be allowed to take admission in the course.
Ragging is outlawed in Indian campuses but despite interventions from the government and the Supreme Court, fresh college entrants are often subject to days of physical and mental abuse by their seniors – a practice often dubbed as entertainment or fun.
