JU ragging death: Six students banned from entering campus indefinitely

Six students of Jadavpur University (JU), who were allegedly involved in the death of a fresher in August, have been barred from entering the campus indefinitely. The move comes almost two months after the anti-ragging committee of the varsity had recommended that the students be prevented from entering the institute. All of them are currently serving judicial custody in Presidency Jail.

In a notification on November 24, JU registrar Snehamanju Basu said the six students will not be allowed to enter the campus including hostels till they are duly discharged from all the allegations brought against them.

Though the executive council, the highest decision making body of the university, had ratified the anti-ragging panel's recommendation to bar the six students in October, the notification was issued only a couple of days ago.

Basu could not be contacted to know the reason for the delay in issuing the notification by her office.

The fresher had fallen off a second-floor balcony of the JU Main Hostel on August 9 after intensive ragging. He died at a private hospital the next morning.

Jadavpur University Teachers' Association, the representative body of the varsity faculty, and senior professor Imankalyan Lahiri had recently voiced their grievances over the delay to implement the recommendations of the anti-ragging panel.

All the six students are seniors in various UG disciplines including economics, sociology, electrical engineering, civil engineering and computer science.

Thirteen individuals have so far been arrested in connection with the death of the student, including postgraduate students and a PhD researcher who was overstaying in the hostel despite not being a student any more.

University English professor Manojit Mondal said the decision to bar the students should have been taken much earlier.