Kerala student attempts suicide over alleged ragging, names seniors in FB post
Kasargod: A first-year student of Marine Engineering at Cochin University of Science and Technology attempted suicide on Tuesday night after allegedly being subjected to ragging by some of his college seniors.
According to a report, Ashish Thampan, a resident of Trikkaripur in Kasargod, consumed poison after returning home on Tuesday. He has since been admitted at a hospital in Mangaluru.
On the same day, the 18-year-old student wrote on his Facebook timeline that he had joined the college with a lot of expectations, and some ‘animals’ in his college had caused him mental and physical trauma which spoiled his life.
He even mentioned a few students’ names on his posts who are believed to be the ones who harassed him and said that he was unaware of the names of many others. He even went on to name a few faculty members, though why he mentioned them is still unclear.
The police were unable to take Ashish’s statement as he wasn’t in a stable condition. “He was merely rambling when we tried to speak to him. So we had to return without recording his statement. However, the doctors told us that his condition was not critical. We have not received any complaint from the boy’s parents,” the police officer said.
Praveen, a teacher at a coaching centre Ashish used to attend said that Ashish had been ragged by his senior students in the past too. He said they used to force him to drink alcohol and beat him up if he refused to obey.
Praveen also claimed that four months back when he had just joined the college he had to take medical treatment as his seniors beat him up, however he didn’t report against them as he feared that they would cause him more harm.
According to media reports, Ashish’s father PV Thampan has written to the Chief Minister demanding action against the students.
Director of Marine Engineering department of CUSAT said that no case of ragging had been reported to the authorities till now, however they have reported to the university registrar and is expected to report the same to the police. They have started enquiry over Ashish’s allegations.
