Madurai Medical College Ragging case: Suspension term reduced of accused Second Year MBBS Medicos

Madurai: The 19 second-year MBBS students, who were suspended for six months on account of verbally ragging the first year students at the medical college hostel, have been granted rebate on their punishment period.

The Anti-Ragging Committee of the college administration has reduced the punishment of the accused MBBS students from six months to 45 days, confirmed the latest media accounts.

Medical Dialogues had reported about the ragging incident which took place on 30th August at the Madurai Medical College. It was stated that a complaint of ragging was lodged with the Anti-Ragging Cell (New Delhi) by the first-year MBBS students about incidents of ragging by the second year medicos.

In their complaint, the juniors stated that ragging was going on for nearly a month in which they were asked to run errands, salute their seniors, wear only formal clothes even while sleeping and not allowed to sport moustaches.

A first-year student informed that they were warned about the ragging a day before by the accused students when they said that ‘those who were not in support of ragging would face the risk of being ostracised till the completion of the course.’

The seniors also got into the rooms of the first year students at night to check if all of them were sleeping dressed in formals. “When they found that some weren’t, they took note of them and left the place saying that those who disobeyed their ‘diktat’ would be taken care of later,” he said.

After receiving the complaint from the trounced medicos, the cell contacted Dr Maruthupandian, Dean of the Medical College and Government Rajaji Hospital, and discreet inquiries were conducted with first-year students to confirm the veracity of the allegations.

The identities of some of the senior students were confirmed with the help of CCTV footage from the hostel premises. It was also added that the senior MBBS students had trespassed into the hostel.

Based on the CCTV footage, the Anti-Ragging Committee recommended the suspension and an additional barring of the accused MBBS students from the college hostel for nearly one-and-a-half years, till their examinations in February 2020.

In accord with the recommendation, the college administration suspended the second year MBBS students for six months from college and for one year from college hostel, with immediate effect.

Read Also: VERBAL Ragging: 22 Madurai Medical College MBBS Students get six months suspension

However, when the college reopened for the second year MBBS students on October 1 after the semester holidays that began on August 30, the dean started receiving appeals of consideration over the period of suspension from the parents of the suspended students.

“About 50 of the affected first-year students were individually asked of their opinion on reducing the suspension period and surprisingly, all of them opined that the punishment term be reduced since the seniors have now become friends with them,” the Dean informed.

It was decided to call the parents of all the suspended MBBS students to appear before the Dean, so as to know their willingness to give an undertaking that their wards will not indulge in a similar act in future.

Read Also: Madurai Medical College Ragging Case: Suspension Order of 19 second-year MBBS Students to be Reconsidered

“On 15th October, the decision was taken after the parents of these students appeared before ARC and submitted a declaration guaranteeing good conduct of the students in future. However, the prohibition imposed on these 19 students from entering the college hostel for one year will continue,” the college administration confirmed to The Hindu.

However, the ban on admitting the students in the college hostel for one year was not relaxed. Certain college sources informed that the decision was taken keeping in view the future of the students, as they might have lost one year. They would not have appeared in exams due to attendance shortage.

The Dean confirmed to TOI that apart from the parents the students who raised complaints of ragging and the other students too had appealed for the relaxation.