Jadavpur University teachers will hold an emergency meeting on Monday (August 14) to discuss the death of a first-year undergraduate student following his ragging.
Three persons, including two JU students and a former student, have been held for their alleged involvement in the ragging of the student who died after falling down from the balcony of the main hostel on August 10.
Police have taken cognisance of JU students' social media posts, including photographs, which suggest there was an element of sexual harassment in the ragging of the deceased.
"He was definitely tormented by the boarders. There can be some passive sexual harassment. We are probing the matter," a senior police officer said.
"We have called for an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss the death of the boy, who was like my son. If we pretend to look the other way despite being educators, we will not be forgiven by people," JUTA general secretary Partha Pratim Roy said.
He said that the university has remained without a permanent VC for the past several months and there has been no elected executive committee while the posts of three deans remain vacant.
"We had repeatedly said that first year students should be put up in a separate hostel, away from the seniors but that was not heeded. If cases where anyone is found guilty of ragging, some of their mates do everything possible to shield the culprit. There should be an immediate end to this practice," Roy said.
He said that the meeting will put forth the demand to make sure that the former students who are no more a part of the university leave the hostel immediately.
Another university teacher said that the affairs in the boys’ main hostel are run by a union affiliated to a Naxalite students' body.
"Several incidents of ragging were alleged in this hostel in the past but stringent action could not be taken by the anti-ragging committee and the university in a single case. These union members also prevented the setting up of CCTVs in the hostel," he said.
Roy said issues such as installation of CCTVs need to be addressed carefully as various issues are involved in it, including personal space, freedom and liberty of students.
Another senior faculty member, Manojit Mandal, said the death of the student was "nothing short of a murder".
He said the West Bengal College and University Professors' Association (WBCUPA) will take out a rally on Monday "in protest against red terror" on the campus.
The JU arts and science departments are controlled by SFI and the engineering by FETSU.
(With PTI inputs)
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