MYSTERIOUS STUDENTS' DEATHS AND A BAGFUL OF LIES

The UGC, it is reliably learnt, is likely to send a fact-finding team to look into the two cases of deaths.

- SHANTANU GUHA

Kolkata’s progressive colleges, which have fought for their rights to seek space to kiss in the campus and argued over their choice of professors in their display for total liberalism, have been stunned into silence following the brutal death of a student at Jadavpur University.

Reports reaching here say the death of the firstyear student and that of another student from Bengal’s Midnapur district in faraway Andhra Pradesh has alarmed the University Grants Commission.

The incidents have rattled many; former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly said all colleges and universities must ensure such incidents do not happen again. “This is shocking, how can this happen?” Ganguly said on the sidelines of an event.

The UGC, it is reliably learnt, is likely to send a fact-finding team to look into the two cases of deaths. “This is very, very alarming. If it is ragging that has led to these deaths, then it needs to be thoroughly probed,” the official said, adding the fact-finding team will embark on their mission soon.

Medical colleges in India are notorious for incidents of ragging, claim the UGC official. A total of 511 complaints of ragging or hazing were reported from across the country’s colleges in 2021, compared to 219 in 2020, says the UGC antiragging cell. Experts have often blamed inaction and underreporting by college authorities for ragging incidents to flourish despite laws against it. Two states, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh, rank high in ragging complaints.