NHRC issues notice to Bengal govt, Jadavpur University over student's death allegedly due to ragging

The Commission has issued a notice to the Chief Secretary of the Bengal government calling for a report on the matter within four weeks.

"It should include the reasons for the prima facie failure of the institution to take adequate steps to prevent ragging in accordance with the UGC regulation, and the steps taken or proposed to punish the perpetrators of the ragging including its abettors and sympathizers," NHRC said in a statement.

The report must also contain the measures being initiated by the state government for spreading awareness about the menace of ragging amongst the student community and teaching associations throughout the state, the statement said.

NHRC took suo motu cognizance of a media report that a first-year student of Jadavpur University became a victim of alleged ragging, and died on August 10, 2023, after falling from the second-floor balcony of the varsity's hostel. Reportedly, the fellow students of the victim had tried to bring the matter to the notice of the Dean but unfortunately, their efforts went in vain, it said.

"The Commission observed that the media report indicates negligence, lack of supervision, and inherent failure of the college administration due to which a young student, reportedly undergoing the trauma of ragging, lost his life. Therefore, the contents of the media report, if true, amount to a violation of the human rights of the student," it said.

A further notice has been issued to the Registrar of Jadavpur University to submit a detailed report regarding the steps taken for effective implementation of the recommendations of the Raghavan Committee report, affirmed by the Supreme Court of India, to solve the problem of ragging in the University, it said.

The student had moved to the hostel barely three days before his death at the start of the academic session

He had called up his mother multiple times two days before he died expressing fear for his life and that he wanted to return home, media reports said.