Ragging costs: 54 women medical students fined Rs 13.5 lakh for harassing junior

Fifty-four women students of Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) have been collectively fined Rs13.50 lakh following complaints of repeated ragging of a junior, the hospital administration confirmed on Saturday.

The administration imposed a fine of Rs25,000 each on the 54 women for an alleged ragging episode on the campus following a complaint by the victim to the Medical Council of India (MCI), which in turn directed the administration to take action. “We received an email from the MCI  on Friday in this regard,” DMCH principal Dr Rabindra Kumar Sinha told HT, adding, “We had to act.” 

The DMCH’s anti-ragging committee would not give the names of the accused or the victim. Members said that it had to quiz the students and use others to find out details, besides the names of those involved, before imposing the fine on women medicos of the third semester who live in the Old Girl’s Hostel on campus. The culprits are of the 2016 batch, said a member. Twenty-seven women of the first semester batch were also involved in the incident, he said.

The ARC, however, faced a problem since none of the first semester students came forward to reveal that they were subjected to ragging by the senior women.

“We have decided to punish the entire batch of women students of first and third semesters collectively. A fine of Rs25,000 has been imposed on each for not reporting the episode and trying to cover up the matter as per the anti-ragging regulations framed by MCI,” the principal said.

In an email sent to the MCI on November 11, a first-year female student and an inmate of OGH had complained about being subjected to repeated ragging by senior women of the third semester, who lived in the same hostel.

The MCI promptly directed DMCH administration to take action while forwarding a copy of the complaint without revealing the identity of the complainant. The female medico had alleged that seniors gave them a rough time, directing them to perform embarrassing acts.

One of the members of ARC and head of department of medicine, Dr B K Singh, said that if the women failed to pay by November 25, they would invite stern action.