Ragging at Haldwani Medical College: Rs 5000 fine imposed on Second Year Medicos

Previously Medical Dialogues reported that the anti-ragging committee had their second meeting on Saturday to investigate the alleged ragging and decided to impose fines on the whole batch of second-year students considering that the incident of ragging took place near their hostel.

On March 4, a case of ragging by shaving the heads of MBBS first-year students came to light in Government Medical College, Haldwani. All 43 first-year students had their heads shaved and the video went viral. Another view also showed the first-year students walking in silence with their hands tied behind their back and looking down at the ground. When the matter reached the High Court in the form of public interest litigation, the court directed the concerned authorities to take action by constituting an inquiry committee consisting of Kumaon Division.

The anti-ragging committee had its second meeting on 26 March. For not getting a clear idea about the students responsible for the ragging incident, the committee imposed a fine of five thousand rupees for second-year MBBS medicos. According to the college administration, 120 students have deposited the fine till Monday evening, reports Jagran. Three students could not submit due to their absence.

In the matter, the High Court has summoned the reply of the Medical College Administration by 20 April. Simultaneously, an investigation is going on at the police level as well. The principal of the college had an earlier meeting where he claimed that the students had shaved their heads because they were suffering from "dandruff, allergies, and psoriasis". However, a complaint against "unidentified" offenders was lodged on March 18. When the court questioned the principal about why the accused students in the case were "unidentified" during the last hearing, the principal Dr. Arun Joshi explained that the administration was not able to determine the names of those responsible for the incident.