Kottayam (Kerala) [India], February 15 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers held a protest outside the Government Nursing College in Kottayam, Kerala on Saturday over the ragging incident in which five senior students were arrested.
Visuals from the protest showed police using water cannons to disperse the protestors.
The police arrested five college students for allegedly ragging juniors in the Government Nursing College of Kottayam. As per the Gandhinagar police, the students were sent to a two-day police remand.
According to Kerala health minister Veena George, the five students who have been arrested in the alleged ragging case have been suspended from the college. She added that the state government will ensure that maximum action is taken against the five accused.
Students from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) staged protests on Friday over the alleged ragging incident at Kottayam Government Nursing College.
During the protests, students clashed with the police, broke through barricades, and questioned the authorities.
On Friday Kerala Health Minister said, "DME has received a preliminary report from the nursing school, and this (ragging) happened in their hostel. The students belong to the general nursing school. I asked DME to send a team of higher officers, and they are now in Kottayam. The nursing school has already suspended these students. It is very brutal. The government will ensure maximum action. When the second or third-year students enter the hostel of the juniors then the warden should know that. They, too, have responsibility."
As per the victim students, the ragging had been going on for three and half months at the institute. As per the police, the ragging incidents began in November last year after the first year classes began.
The police had further added that they are investigating the involvement of more students into the matter.