Ragging horror in Tamil Nadu: ITI student stripped, hit on private parts with slipper; warden suspended

MADURAI: Madurai rural district police on Tuesday booked three minor boys for ragging a 15-year-old student of a govt Industrial Training Institute (ITI) inside a room of the govt kallar hostel in Checkanurani. The matter came to light after a video of the incident was circulated on social media, fuelling public outrage.Police said the victim, hailing from Theni district, is a first year student at the ITI. On Sept 18, the three accused senior students stripped the boy, humiliated him and beat him up in the hostel room. The boys also hit the victim’s private parts with a slipper. The incident was recorded by another boy on a mobile phone, and the 39-second video circulated on social media platforms.Madurai district superintendent of police B K Arvind said that based on a complaint from the victim’s father, Checkanurani police registered a case and picked up the three accused for inquiry. Two of them hailed from Madurai and one from Theni. They were booked under sections 115 (2), 133, 351 (2) Of BNS r/w 4, 7 of Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1997, including for assault and criminal intimidation.Police clarified that the victim was not from a scheduled caste (SC), but one of the accused boys was. Meanwhile, the warden of the govt Kallar college hostel was suspended for not ensuring the safety of an inmate. Officials from the education department also launched a probe into the incident. The three accused minors were suspended by the ITI as well.Opposition leaders, including AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, strongly condemned the incident. “Renaming these govt hostels as ‘social justice/harmony’ hostels will not change anything, social justice needs to be ensured. Education alone is not enough but quality is needed in govt institutions and discipline needs to be taught,” he said in a social media post on X platform. R Murali, state president, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Tamil Nadu, highlighted the need to set up anti-ragging committees in govt ITIs just like in colleges. “Students of govt ITIs are often from downtrodden and economically poor backgrounds. Orientation programmes to help new students develop positive relationships with older students, and better monitoring are much-needed,” he said.