Following the incident of brutal ragging at a government nursing college in Kottayam, Muralee Thummarukudy, the head of the UN Disaster Risk Reduction, has stated that perpetrators of such acts should face appropriate consequences. He suggests that the persistence of these barbaric acts is due to leniency shown to culprits, even in cases resulting in the victim's death, because of considerations for the perpetrators' "future life".

"They will spend a few days in jail. They will be suspended from the college. But within a year, the "future of children" will be the main issue. It is more likely that they will return to college. It is not surprising if such crimes are repeated inside or outside the college, because they did not suffer any adequate punishment for the first crime. "They and those who are likely to commit such crimes through them are only learning the lesson that if they have money and family influence, they can get away with any crime," said Murali Thummarukudy.

Full translated version of the Facebook post:

"'Entertainment' of 'ignorant' 'children'!

A video of ragging by senior students at a nursing college in Kottayam has surfaced. The student is seen crying and screaming, and lotion is poured into his mouth and eyes. Dumbbells are also stacked on the student's private parts, visible in the footage.

After this, one of the accused, saying 'I will draw a circle,' stabs the student in the stomach with a divider... Even after the junior student cries and says, 'Enough, it hurts,' the senior students do not stop the cruelty... I have just read it; I do not have the strength to watch. But this is not what astounds me. Presently, the society is very angry about this. The culprits will spend a few days in jail. They will be suspended from college and so on.

But within a year, the 'future of the children' will be the main issue. It is more likely that all of them will return to college. It is not surprising if such crimes are repeated inside or outside the college, because they did not suffer adequate punishment for the first crime. They and those who are likely to commit such crimes will get a message that if they have enough money and family influence, they can get away with any crime.

The victims of the crime will have to live with the trauma of this incident for the rest of their lives. No one is held responsible for their loss. No one values the pain their families should bear.

In fact, legally, these criminals are not 'children' at all. They are over eighteen. What they are doing is not related to their studies. It is a violent crime. There is a punishment prescribed by law for it. They should first face that; after that, only we can consider their future. Only then will such incidents not happen again. This nonsense exists because the 'future of children' is being considered, including in cases where the victims die. We have been seeing and hearing about these incidents for the last fifty years, so I have no hope regarding this. However, could I hope that at least in this case, the accused will get the punishment they deserve?

Muralee Thummarukudy"