Victim of ragging from Nagaland narrates his ordeal
DIMAPUR, OCTOBER 14 (MExN): The Angami Students Union Shillong on Saturday provided insight on the harrowing and traumatizing experience of ragging subjected to a student from Nagaland at North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) Tura campus in Meghalaya on October 8.
According to the complaint by the student, who is enrolled in the Department of Agri Business Management, the incident took place during the night of October 8 at Arbella Boys Hostel, Chasingre.
The student recalled that at around 1 am, he was called from his room by a group of 5-6 seniors after they knocked on his door. His roommate was fast asleep at the time and there was no electricity for the victim to identify his abusers.
Since it was his first night in the hostel, he had no acquaintance with the hostellers and no familiarity with the hostel. When the student opened the door, the seniors had their phone flashlights pointed on him for which reason he could not identify their faces nor identify the exact number of the guys, the student said in his complaint.
The seniors asked him if he was a junior and was then told to come out of his room. “I expected them to call my roommate as well we are the same batch but I was called out alone. They took me to an empty room which one of the guys locked upon our entry. They asked me to introduce myself and I did so twice in English. They all spoke in Hindi, and told me to introduce myself in Hindi but they did not like the introduction since I was not fluent with the language,” stated the student.
The student was then asked to perform a nude dance for the sake of the senior student which he refused but was threatened. Fearful and traumatized, he opened his shirt and was then asked to drop his shorts. One of the seniors pulled down his under garments with the seniors then flashing their phone lights at him. They even went on to threaten him with having to leave the hostel the next day if he did not entertain them.
“I was so traumatised and utterly terrified that I broke down in tears. They warned and threatened me that they will expose me if I report the incident to anyone. They told me to leave after threatening me. Even as I was leaving, they threatened me again not to close my room door,” he added.
Realizing that he was their only target as they did not call out his roommate, the student said he did not sleep a wink through the night. “My roommate stated that he did not hear anything and was asleep. I didn’t trust him so did not narrate the night’s incident,” he added. Instead, the student told his roommate that he has to leave as his father had met with an accident and has been hospitalized.
Following the incident, the student informed his family of the matter and immediately left for his home. He was met in Guwahati by his cousin before leaving for his house.
NSUI Nagaland condemns
The NSUI Nagaland has condemned the October 8 ragging incident. “The incident has come as a shock and a sense of distrust and insecurity has been created in the campus. A place of learning must be free from any sort of discrimination and threats as such which may hamper a student’s career. This unfortunate incident has not only put the future of the student at stake but it is also a gross violation of humanitarian values,” NSUI Nagaland Media Cell stated in a press release.
“Ragging is a crime,” it stated and called upon the Vice-Chancellor of NEHU to immediately step in and take remedial measures to ensure that such incidents does not happen again in the campus.
“The NSUI is of the strong opinion that the culprits should be immediately identified and apprehended under relevant sections of the law,” the union added.
Meanwhile, the Union also expresses its sympathy to the victim and his family and assured that “the matter will be pursued until justice is delivered.”
