In just one year, Kerala witnessed an enormous spike in torturous ragging cases in colleges. Senior students flaunt their political inclinations to silence juniors and even make officials kowtow to their atrocities. The crimes which they subject the juniors to go through are diabolical and even can put to shame a seasoned criminal.

The scar left by the death of Siddharth, a student of Pookode Veterinary College almost one year back is yet to fade away. Amidst this came news about the gore crimes in Kottayam Nursing College just a week back. The first-year students of Govt. Nursing College, Gandhinagar, Kottayam were brutally tortured in a way, eerily similar to the torture heard of in concentration camps.

Every time we hear such news, officials feign shock and jump into action. Punitive steps will be taken against culprits; nothing more than a face-saving act. Apart from such redundant gimmicks, have we done anything prudent to wipe away this evil forever?

The Justice KK Dinesan Commission, appointed after the death of Jishnu Prannoy, submitted recommendations to the government to prevent ragging in February 2018 and this was approved by the cabinet. But no action followed. All this lax gave the criminals ample reasons to commit grave crimes with impunity.

Nobody would dare to choose rogue torture in the name of ragging if convinced about what awaits them. The simple thought of not being able to pursue higher studies anymore and a difficult life ahead embroiled in legal bouts would have made them tremble at the idea of ragging. Kerala passed a law many years ago making ragging a criminal offence and providing severe punishment. Many other states including Tamil Nadu have banned ragging.

The seven-member committee appointed by the central government under the leadership of former CBI director RK Raghavan on the instructions of the Supreme Court had also recommended strict measures to deal with ragging. School officials are often reticent to go with strict actions because of the high-level political interventions made to support the culprits. All this would only make culprits try their nefarious tricks again with more vigour. Justice Dinesan Commission had recommended an ombudsman with quasi-judicial powers at the state and district levels under the chairmanship of retired district judges to prevent ragging. Higher Education Minister R. Bindu has revealed that the government is examining the legal validity of implementing the recommendations.

The police will have to file a criminal case within 24 hours. The report of the commission will be crucial when the case reaches court. Imprisonment for two years and a fine. The punishment for wounding will be ten years. We will be hearing less of ragging cases in the future, only if the court decides to go with severe punishment rather than the current mundane ones.

No one would be willing to shroud complaints if there comes a provision to cancel the recognition of educational firms that cover up ragging.