Legal Desk

Duties of the Parents

a)  Encourage the victim child:
If your child has been a victim to ragging, it is important that you encourage him/her to share his feelings with you and to help him initiate any of the above actions. It is important that you do not treat ragging as “normal” and “accepted way of introduction” and you complaint against the same.

b)  Follow up with the authorities:
It is important that you constantly follow up with the authorities regarding the action that has been taken or is being taken, so as to give you an opportunity to lodge a complaint with alternative authority in case of inactivity by the concerned authority.

c)  Discourage the act of ragging:
If you hear or suspect your child to be involved in the crime of ragging, instruct him/her to discontinue and apologize to the victim, or if you suspect his/her future involvement in the same, discourage him/her to do so.

d)  Help the educational institutions by signing undertaking:
You should help the educational institutions by signing the undertaking at the time of admission of your child, that you undertake that your child will not indulge in the crime of ragging.

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Duties of the Witnesses

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If you have been a witness to an incident of ragging then you must do the following:

a)  Support the Victim:
If the victim is reluctant or somewhat scared in reporting the incident, then you must provide emotional, mental & most importantly moral support to him/her. You must persuade him/her to report the incident & assure him that action would be taken.

b)  Report the Incident:
As a witness to any crime, it’s your moral duty to report the crime. If you are a witness to an incident of ragging, then you must report it to either to the Police, or the college authority or an NGO in the manner provided above in the category of victims.

c)  Support the trial:
If you are a witness to an incident of ragging, it is important that you support the trial by being a prosecution’s witness and by helping the police with the investigations. Supporting a trial may appear to be a cumbersome process to some as it may involve numerous court visits, nonetheless, one must support and stand by the truth. It is important that the perpetrators do not go unpunished as then they would constitute consistent threat in the educational institutions and will set up bad examples of ragging trials thereby increasing the incidents of ragging.

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Caution for the Perpetrators/ Seniors

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The utmost disadvantage of ragging is to the doers themselves. Ragging is a crime and therefore attracts violation of various provisions of law. Simple Hurt, Grievous Hurt, Attempt to murder, Abatement to a thing, Abatement to suicide, murder, culpable homicide, causing death by rashness or negligence, sexual molestation, outraging the modesty of a woman, obscenity, rape, attempt to rape, sodomy, etc. are some of the examples of offenses punishable under Indian Penal Code. The students will be nurturing a misconception if they feel that their “student” status at an academic institution might help them get away without punishments. Any student above 18 is treated as any other adult for the purposes of criminal law.

In addition to the proceedings under Indian Penal code, the college authorities may initiate disciplinary proceedings against you, which may involve expulsion from the institution or suspension for a suitable time period, fines, expulsion from hostels.