Disabled girl ragged in Pune Sinhgad College hostel; police seek report

Pune, March 26 (IANS) In a shocking incident, a 19-year-old physically handicapped girl was allegedly ragged in the hostel of a prominent educational institution and is currently admitted to a hospital, officials said here on Tuesday.

According to the Lonavala Rural Police Station Inspector Kishor Dhumal, the family of the victim - identified as Kalyani Gajanan Nikam - has claimed that she was allegedly undergoing the trauma of teasing and taunts over her disability and other things, ostensibly by three of her room-mates for past more than two-three months.

Almost a fortnight ago, the three girls reportedly chased her, then confined Kalyani into a bathroom and repeatedly threatened her with some sharp-edged weapon, and even stabbed her twice.

The alleged incident happened in her hostel room at the prestigious Sinhgad Institution's College where she was studying for the BBA/CA course, on the outskirts of the picturesque Lonavala hill-station.

Terrified by the incident, Kalyani suffered a stroke and was rushed to a nearby hospital on March 12. Her condition is stated to be "serious" in the ICU and the police have launched a probe.

When contacted by IANS, the hostel Rector Shivaji Desai and Jr. Estate Officer Pankaj T. Jadhav flatly denied that there was "any such incident in the girls hostel" as alleged by the Nikam family.

"This hostel has 700 girls living here safely, all the best facilities are provided to them, the said student or her family never complained to the hostel or college authorities and instead they directly approached the police," said Jadhav, steadfastly refusing to acknowledge the incident.

He added that the girl had been suffering from certain "medical issues" for which she was undergoing treatment when she secured admission to the BBA/CA course in the college two years ago.

Inspector Dhumal said that taking cognizance of the parents' grievances, the Lonavala Rural Police Station has asked the college authorities to submit its internal report today (March 26), after which further measures would be initiated.

"It is still not clear if the alleged ragging took place since the girl is in hospital, in a state of shock and unable to speak or record her statement. The college has apprised us of her health issues and even a medical team will check out the details," Inspector Dhumal told IANS.

Her family claimed to the local media that Kalyani had been subjected to harassment for more than a couple of months, but after the latest traumatic incident, she suffered a brain-stroke and her condition is reported to be delicate in a hospital in Pimpri-Chinchwad.

The family said they had brought the matter to the notice of the college and the hostel authorities, who chose to ignore it, compelling them to approach the Lonavala Rural Police Station, and Kalyani's brother claimed she might even lapse into a coma.

The family further said that when they called up the father of one of the room-mates indulging in the "ragging" of Kalyani, he reportedly threatened them, claiming he was an army officer.

The Nikam family has urged the police to make proper investigations and take stringent action against the three girls, while the college pointed out that they have an anti-ragging committee in place which will also look into the allegations.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in)

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