Seven students from Kakatiya Medical College (KMC-Warangal) have been booked by the Matwada police for allegedly ragging a first-year MBBS student on September 14.
This is the second such incident reported within a month in the State. Ten students of Gandhi Medical College in Hyderabad were suspended on September 10 for ragging their juniors.
The victim, Manohar Kumar Solanki, a first-year MBBS student from Jalore in Rajasthan, lodged a formal complaint with the police, alleging physical assault and harassment by his seniors on the college premises.
According to Solanki’s complaint, he encountered a group of senior students around 12:45 a.m. on September 14 when he was returning to his room from the library. He claimed that they were intoxicated and verbally abusive, prompting him to decline their invitation to join them. Upon his return to his room, however, Solanki was allegedly subjected to a brutal physical assault, during which he sustained injuries and passed out. His batchmates found him and rushed him to MGM Hospital.
Based on Solanki’s complaint, the police booked the accused students under IPC sections 294(b) (pertaining to obscene language in public places), 323 (voluntary causing hurt) and 34 (acts carried out collectively with common intention) and Section 4 (iii) of the Telangana Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1997.
The seven students facing these allegations are Abhinav More, Srihari, Sri Charan, Surya Prakash, K. Lokesh, Sai Kiran and Hari Krishna (all in their second year of MBBS).
College response
Principal of KMC-Warangal Dr. Divvela Mohandas, however, termed the incident a “quarrel” between senior students and a junior. While speaking to The Hindu, Dr. Mohandas said an internal committee meeting had been held with the victim. He also mentioned that the college’s anti-ragging and disciplinary committee is scheduled to convene on Tuesday, and all the involved students will be required to attend it. Depending on the findings of the inquiry, appropriate disciplinary action will be decided on. The Matwada police said they are investigating the issue.
