Enough is Enough: The Deadly Toll of Ragging in India
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It was the 1980s and I was in my first year of high school. I was blindfolded and taken by upper-year students to a washroom. They made me kneel in front of a toilet and ordered me to squish its contents. My heart pounded with fear and disgust, but I complied. Only later did I learn that the contents were just peanut butter and a banana. It was a prank, one of the more 'harmless' forms of ragging (known as hazing in the west) that new students were subjected to. Others weren’t so lucky. Some were physically assaulted, their dignity shattered, their self-worth trampled under the guise of ‘initiation.’
That was then. I had assumed that ragging was a relic of the past, that a zero-tolerance policy had made it a thing of history - at one point. But during my visit to Kerala late last year, I was confronted with a grim reality. Anti-ragging posters plastered across college campuses hinted at a persistent and unresolved menace. I now understand why.
Mihir was just 15, a bright young boy with dreams, before ragging crushed him. Earlier this year, he was allegedly beaten, verbally abused, and subjected to unspeakable humiliation. Forced to lick a toilet seat, his head shoved into a flushing toilet, Mihir endured torture at the hands of his schoolmates. On January 15, barely an hour after returning home from school, Mihir ended his life by jumping from his family’s 26th-floor apartment in Kochi. His death should have shocked the nation into action. Instead, it exposed the failures of our institutions to enforce protections that should have been in place long ago.
Even after Mihir’s death, cruelty persisted. Chat screenshots revealed some of his tormentors celebrating his demise, mocking him with racial slurs. His mother’s fight for justice has been met with bureaucratic indifference and institutional cover-ups. The school, fearing reputational damage, hesitated to act decisively, choosing to protect itself rather than its students.
Mihir’s story is not an isolated one. In Gujarat’s Patan district, 18-year-old MBBS student Anil Methaniya met a tragic end in November 2024. He and other first-year students were forced to stand for over three hours by their seniors as part of a cruel ragging ritual at GMERS Medical College. Unable to endure the physical and mental torture, Anil collapsed. He was rushed to the hospital, but it was too late. The college suspended the accused students, and police filed a case against them for culpable homicide, but justice for Anil, like Mihir, remains uncertain. His death underscores the continued dangers of ragging even in institutions meant to nurture future doctor.
Mihir and Anil’s cases are not anomalies. Across India, ragging continues to claim lives. In medical and engineering colleges, in hostels and classrooms, freshers are subjected to brutal ‘rites of passage’ that leave psychological and physical scars. In 2009, Aman Kachroo, a 19-year-old medical student, died after being beaten by his seniors in Himachal Pradesh. His father, Rajendra Kachroo, turned his grief into activism, leading to the Supreme Court’s intervention and the creation of a national anti-ragging helpline. Yet, despite these efforts, cases of ragging persist at alarming rates.
A 2023 Right to Information (RTI) response from the University Grants Commission (UGC) revealed that at least 25 students had died by suicide due to ragging in the preceding five years. The actual numbers are likely higher, given the culture of silence and underreporting that protects perpetrators. Many institutions, prioritizing their reputation over student safety, fail to act or actively suppress complaints.
The persistence of ragging stems from multiple failures, including:
- Institutional apathy plays a major role. Schools and colleges often downplay ragging incidents, fearing bad publicity and loss of funding.
- Fear of retaliation keeps many victims from reporting these abuses. They hesitate to speak up, fearing further torment or ostracization.
· Legal and administrative lapses allow ragging to continue. While some states have anti-ragging laws, there is no stringent national legislation with serious consequences for institutions that fail to act.
· The normalization of abuse perpetuates the cycle. Ragging is often justified as ‘tradition,’ a bonding exercise that helps juniors integrate. This dangerous mindset enables abuse to persist.
Posters and policies alone won’t end ragging. We need concrete, enforceable measures to protect students. Here’s what must change:
1) Strict implementation of zero-tolerance policies is essential. Colleges must establish and enforce clear anti-ragging protocols, including immediate expulsion for offenders.
2) Institutions must be held accountable. Schools and universities that fail to prevent or properly address ragging incidents must face serious penalties, including loss of accreditation.
3) Whistleblower protections should be strengthened. Students must be able to report ragging anonymously without fear of retaliation.
4) Comprehensive awareness and counseling programs should be implemented. Anti-ragging education should begin in schools, making it clear that bullying and harassment are not rites of passage.
5) Legal reforms are necessary. A national anti-ragging law must be enacted, ensuring that perpetrators—and institutions that enable them—face strict legal consequences. Several states in India have specific anti-ragging laws, including Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, West Bengal, and Jammu and Kashmir. Notable acts like the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1997 and the Maharashtra Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1999 stand as prominent examples of state-level legislative efforts to combat ragging. While most states have enacted measures against ragging, either through their own state laws or by adhering to central guidelines, enforcement remains inconsistent, leading to continued incidents of violence and harassment.
Mihir and Anil’s deaths should be turning points. Their families’ pleas for justice should not be ignored. Every student has the right to pursue education free from fear. Every parent should feel secure knowing that their child will return home safe. Enough is enough. We must act now before another young life is needlessly lost.
Let this be the moment we say: no more.