The Goa Medical College ragging incident has taken a very serious turn as it no longer appears to be just the ragging of a student but an assault of the same student, and then there is the other case of interns being found in possession of banned substances within the college hostel. The victim’s narration of all that happened in the ragging/assault incident is quite lucid and the police, who are now probing the case, have to act without any fear or favour to establish with evidence through their investigation all what occurred. Ragging is not permitted in college hostels, neither are assaults and definitely not possession of narcotic substances. These are serious crimes that come under the purview of the police for investigation with stringent penal punishments and so under no circumstances can they be ignored or glossed over.
The police, now in charge of the cases have to take them to the logical and legal conclusions and neither should Goa Medical College nor anybody else interfere in the investigations. The police have to be given a clear mandate to complete their probe without any external interference. The slow pace of the police probe has already raised questions as the GMC academic screening committee took quick action against the interns caught with drugs. Senior GMC authorities have alleged that the police are attempting to show that nobody was caught with the banned substance. The police have to come clear on all this while also themselves keeping a clean slate in their probe.
A fair probe is also essential as there are other charges from the Gawada, Kunbi, Velip and Dhangar (GAKUVED) Federation that the police are shielding the four students accused of the assault, and have gone on to demand that a committee under a retired Judge or District Collector be constituted to inquire into the matter. The federation has stepped in as the student who was assaulted belongs to the tribal community and they have charged that this is also a case of discrimination and atrocities against an ST community member. The police have to respond to all these charges and present a clear picture of what occurred in both cases.
Political parties must also refrain from interfering in the matter. The youth wing of an opposition party that is demanding a revocation of the rustication of the interns allegedly involved in the drug possession must first establish for themselves that there is no case against the interns. They should not take up for the accused students merely to gain political mileage. It is understood that this is a very sensitive matter and that the future careers of the students is at stake, but if there has been any wrongdoing or breaking of the laws, then action is necessary. Let the investigation establish what occurred and then can political parties weigh in with their views on the case.
While this – the police matter – is one aspect of the cases that has to be probed and taken to a judicial conclusion, there is another that has to also be addressed that is not with the police. The two cases have alerted the authorities to such happenings in college campuses. Higher educational institutions, especially those that are residential or have hostel facilities for their students, must upgrade the supervision of these lodgings to ensure that such instances do not occur in their campuses. This could well be a stray incident of drug possession and another of an assault in a hostel, it should remain that way. There can be no acceptance of ragging, assault and drug abuse in college hostels and campuses. It is the duty of the college managements to ensure and guarantee this. Besides imparting education, they should also teach their students to be responsible and law-abiding citizens.
