india

Updated: Aug 22, 2019 04:43 IST

A group of seniors allegedly forced 200 first-year students at Uttar Pradesh University of Medical Sciences (UPUMS) in Saifai to shave their heads and parade on the campus on Monday despite a ban on ragging in educational institutes.

The photos of the alleged ragging went viral on social media prompting the university administration to order a probe.“A committee has been constituted under proctor Ramakant Yadav to investigate the matter,” said UPUMS vice-chancellor Raj Kumar.

Kumar said he met many students but no one complained about the alleged ragging. “The students said they had their heads shaved on their own and no one forced them to do so,’’ said Kumar.

The students were asked to parade and bend down on their knees and offer salutes to the seniors, according to people aware of what happened on the campus on Monday. They added the students were allegedly threatened against naming anyone after the pictures went viral.

The UPUMS authorities Initially maintained that students getting their heads shaved was part of a tradition that freshers follow every year while promising action if they were forced to do so as part of ragging. An official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said last year five UPUMS students faced action for ragging.

The people cited above said that first-year students have to get their heads shaven in their hostels when they are allotted their rooms.

Saifai’s sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), Satya Prakash Singh, and circle officer, Massa Singh, visited the campus and spoke to freshers individually and in groups following the instruction of the district magistrate, J B Singh.

The SDM said none of the students complained about ragging but 200 students getting their heads shaved was surprising. “We are preparing our report and will submit to the district magistrate,” he said.

Officials said Satya Prakash Singh and Massa Singh met the students as well as their parents during their day-long stay on the campus after the photos went viral.

The SDM said the university’s anti-ragging squad was ineffective and the freshers were under some sort of pressure and that is why they have not reported the matter.

In 2007, the Supreme Court issued guidelines for the prevention and prohibition of ragging in educational Institutions.