164 ragging cases,19 deaths in last 12 months: Study

The year saw four attempted suicides allegedly due to ragging,it said,adding that the number of ragging incidents have doubled in comparison to the previous academic session.

The anti-ragging advocacy group,which comes out with study of ragging cases every year based on reports in English media,noted that the figure was 89 reported cases,11 deaths and five attempted suicides in 2007-08,while in 2008-09,it was 88 reported ragging incidents,12 deaths and five attempted suicides due to ragging.

“The year also witnessed a marked increase in the number of ragging incidents involving girls,including four cases of deaths and two cases of attempted suicides by girl students,” it said.

“Ragging cases reported have doubled this academic year.

Whereas this increase could be due to wider coverage of ragging incidents by the media,the substantial increase in number of deaths is concerning,” it said.

The highest number of incidents was reported from Uttar Pradesh (26),followed by Andhra Pradesh (18),Tamil Nadu (14),Kerala (13) and West Bengal (11).

Maharashtra (4),West Bengal (4) and Punjab (3) registered maximum deaths due to ragging,according to the study by CURE,which was established in 2001 and also runs a website http://www.noragging.com.

Aman Kachroo,a first-year student of Tanda Medical College in Himachal Pradesh,succumbed to injuries allegedly after being ragged by four seniors in March last year. The case was back in news recently after the four were granted bail by a fast track court and the matter is since pending before the Himachal High Court.