Our Special Correspondent
TURA:
A student of central school Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in East Garo Hills district headquarters of Williamnagar has been admitted to a hospital here after suffering injuries in an alleged assault on him by a large group of senior students inside the hostel campus on the night of August 31, in a suspected case of bullying and ragging.
The attack on the 16-year-old boy of Class X was reportedly orchestrated by seniors from Class XI and XII who called him into their hostel on the night of August 31 and rained blows on him. Long standing rivalry is said to be one of the reasons for the targeting of the victim.
The attackers, who are barely 17 years old, targeted the victim around 10 pm by bringing him over to their room where he was allegedly left badly injured from the thrashing and had to be taken to Williamnagar civil hospital for treatment.
He has since been brought to Tura for better medical treatment and the family has filed a police complaint.
“The seniors had called him to the room and assaulted him. The victim reported the incident to the school authorities and named five of the attackers. An investigation by the school administration found there were actually seven seniors that attacked the boy while 10 others were indirectly involved in the incident. The 7 seniors have been rusticated (suspended) and the 10 others have been sent home,” informed East Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner Vibhor Agarwal while speaking to The Meghalayan on Sunday night.
The Juvenile Justice Board will be taking up the incident since a police complaint has been filed and the victim and the attackers are juveniles.
The condition of the injured boy is reported to be stable after having been provided with medical treatment, it was informed.
Following this exposure in which the victim came forward to narrate his tale of ordeal at the hands of seniors, others have allegedly also spoken up about previous cases of ragging in the institution revealing what seems to be an underlying problem that has failed to be corrected by the school authorities.
Agarwal said that the administration is planning to hold a meeting with the JNV authorities on this burning issue and take preventive steps to prevent future ragging incidents.