12 students of Kalamassery polytechnic college booked for alleged ragging

KOCHI The Kalamassery police have booked 12 students of Government Polytechnic College, Kalamassery, Ernakulam, following a complaint about alleged ragging. The case was registered on a complaint filed by a first-year student who alleged that a group of his seniors had been ragging him at a hostel, according to police sources.

According to police sources, the complainant, a native of Kozhikode who stays in the Periyar hostel on the campus, alleged that his seniors had targeted him for failing to follow certain rules they had allegedly imposed at the hostel. The accused, all second-year students, have been booked under the relevant Sections of the Kerala Prohibition of Ragging Act.

Section 296 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deals with obscene acts and songs in or near public places, has also been invoked against the accused, according to the police. “Further steps, including arrest, will be taken after examining the gravity of the alleged offence,” a police officer said.