Two first-year MBBS students at Calcutta Medical College have reportedly left their hostel and moved into rented accommodation after alleged intimidation by senior students, prompting the college to form an investigation committee and reassure their families that no student can be forcibly removed from the hostel.
The incident came to light after the parents of the two students received early-morning phone calls warning that their sons had caused trouble and asking them to come to the college immediately. The families, who live about 200 kilometres away, travelled to Kolkata and met the students before approaching college officials.
According to the report by Sangbad Pratidin – Kolkata, both students had joined the medical college around 15 days earlier after coming from outside Kolkata. One is from Murshidabad and the other from Kamarpukur. The students alleged that some seniors had warned them not to remain on campus for long after classes and told them that they should not be seen around the campus unnecessarily.
The students also alleged that the intimidation had created fear about being implicated in an incident despite having done nothing wrong. They have since left the hostel and are currently staying in rented accommodation outside the campus, the report said. Their parents told college authorities that continued ragging could cause serious mental distress to the students and asked the administration to intervene.
The college has constituted an investigation committee to identify those responsible. Officials told the families that the campus was meant for education and not for intimidation, and that any complaint against a student had to be reported to the authorities. The administration said it alone had the authority to take action after an investigation and that action would be taken if harassment was established.
College authorities also told the two students that no one could compel them to leave the hostel and advised them to concentrate on their studies while the administration examined the matter. The report did not identify the senior students accused by the two first-year students, and the allegations have not been independently established in the supplied material.
The incident has revived questions about whether anti-ragging safeguards are being effectively enforced in medical colleges. The renewed concern comes after widespread public attention to campus safety and what the report describes as calls to end a culture of intimidation following the R G Kar case. The immediate next step at Calcutta Medical College is the investigation into the students’ allegations and the identification of those responsible, if the claims are substantiated.
