Kachru died due to injuries during ragging, says probe report; blames Suresh Sankhyan, school principal

March 28th, 2009

SHIMLA - The magisterial inquiry into the death of Aman Kachru, a first-year student of the Rajendra Prasad Medical College at Tanda town of Himachal Pradesh, has concluded that the student died due to ragging, according to an official statement Saturday.

‘Aman Kachru succumbed to his injuries caused during the course of ragging,’ the statement said.

Aman died March 8 after he was beaten up allegedly by four final-year students of his medical college as ‘ragging’.

Detailing the sequence of events that took place between March 6 and March 8, the report said many first-year students, including Kachru, were subjected to intense physical ragging in the early hours March 7. However, the incident of ragging only came to the notice of college authorities after a phone call was received by the health minister March 8.

‘Kachru collapsed and died due to injuries which the post-mortem report has linked to the incident of ragging,’ said the report.

The report also said that there was no recorded complaint about ragging in the college by Kachru or any of his relatives prior to this incident.

According to the report, about 10 instances or complaints of ragging and acts of indiscipline had been reported in the college since 2001 but none of the complaints drew any disciplinary action.

‘All these complaints were handled in a casual manner by college authorities and not a single instance showed any effective step or punitive action taken to curb the menace,’ it said.

The report held college principal Suresh Sankhyan, who resigned from the post after the ragging incident, responsible for the lapses.

The report has been submitted to the state’s principal secretary (health), the principal secretary (education) and the director general of police for action.