7 medical students ragged, slashed, thrashed

Seven first-year medical students of Shivaji Hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Medical College at Kalwa, Thane, were humiliatingly ragged and made to dance in their underwear with hands on their private parts for two hours starting late Thursday night. One of the students was also slashed on his arms and severely beaten. The Kalwa police has arrested five of the accused after being informed by college authorities while another accused is on the run. One of the victims, Harish Chaudhary (19), from Uttar Pradesh, recounted his experience, primarily naming two medical interns — Sharad Patil and Achyut Narote — as leading the entire “ragging session”. “I was having dinner in my batchmate’s room in hostel 10 when our senior, Shailesh, came to the room and demanded my presence in hostel 9 saying Achyut wanted to see me. I reached the hostel’s room number 4 at 11 pm after having dinner when I saw six other first-year students standing in a line in their underwear. Sharad then started abusing me, saying I had been acting snobbish. I had earlier refused to buy cigarettes for him and that had irked him. He then held me by the neck and hair and pushed me against the wall. He then asked me to strip to my underwear, slip my hand inside it and dance. I did as I was told,” said a distraught Harish. Moreover, the accused also abused his caste after learning that he belonged to the reserved category. All the six accused — drinking and smoking cigarettes through the two-hour episode — also took their juniors’ mobile phones and switched them off, thus scaring Harish’s batchmates who were unable to reach him. An unabashed Patil claimed his sister was the police commissioner and his brother a dreaded murderer while Achyut boasted about his father being an IAS officer. The petrified juniors were standing along the wall, sporadically bursting into awkward dances on their seniors’ orders. This went on till 1 am. “The others were finally let go but I was held back by Achyut saying Sharad wanted to see me and I was asked to strip completely. Achyut then restrained my hands while Patil slashed my arms with a blade. Achyut too joined in to rain blows on my body and stomach. I somehow managed to free myself and ran out of the room. I briefly narrated the incident to my batchmates and immediately called my father. I then contacted the dean who asked me get admitted in the casualty ward and informed the police,” added Harish. According to senior PI Prakash Nilewad of Kalwa police, while Sharad Patil is on the run, they have arrested Mangesh R., Prabhakar Talawade, Nilesh Matte, N.D. Dhadak, Vilesh M. and Achyut Narote. All the accused are aged between 25 and 29 years. They were arrested under relevant sections of the IPC and Anti-Ragging Act and remanded in judicial custody by the court.