A medical student died in Gujarat’s Patan district after allegedly being made to stand for three hours as part of ragging by seniors, an official said on Sunday.
The incident took place on Saturday after which the college initiated an investigation.
The 18-year-old first-year MBBS student, identified as Anil Methaniya, fell unconscious after allegedly being made to stand for a long period of time and died at a hostel of the GMERS Medical College and Hospital at Dharpur in Patan on Saturday night, according to the dean, Dr Hardik Shah.
“The student was rushed to the hospital after he collapsed, and attempts to revive him failed and he was declared dead. His classmates said Methaniya died after being made to stand for three hours and introduce himself before seniors at the college hostel," Shah informed.
The dean said that a probe into the incident has been launched by the anti-ragging committee of the college. He assured strict action against the seniors if they were found guilty of ragging.
The body of the deceased was sent for postmortem and a case of accidental death was filed, an official from the Balisana police station informed.
According to a first-year medical student, around 8 senior students forced a group of junior ones to stand for nearly three hours and give their introduction one by one.
“They forced us to keep standing and asked us not to get agitated. At last, a student, who was also standing with us, fell unconscious. We rushed him to a hospital where he died," he said on condition of anonymity.
The deceased’s cousin told the media later that the family hoped to get justice from the college and the government.
“I received a call from my uncle that my cousin was hospitalised after falling unconscious. When I arrived here, I learnt that he had died," said Dharmendra Methaniya.
“We are waiting for the postmortem report to find out the exact cause of death. We have found out that some third-year students made him stand for two-three hours as part of ragging due to which he felt dizzy and fell down," he added.
The police registered an FIR against 15 students, all in their second year, of college.
They allegedly made the juniors subject to “mental and physical torture" during the ragging, according to the FIR.
The police have booked them for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and other offences.
The accused students were suspended from their hostel and barred from academic activities in college until further orders, officials said.
