Assam: Ragging rocks in Oil Valley School of Digboi; FIR lodged

DIGBOI: Sensations gripped Digboi in Tinsukia district following a sixteen-year-old student of Digboi Bogapani based CBSE affiliated Oil Valley School was reportedly behaving in a weird way since July 18 evening allegedly due to ragging by classmates.

Taking a strong cognizance of the ragging incident, the Digboi police immediately registered a case on Thursday based on the complaint by the father of the victim who is a minor.

According to the father of the victim, his daughter, studying in IXth standard on her return from school on Tuesday looked upset, confused and gloomy and after subsequent enquiry, it was revealed that she was put to mental and physical torture by her classmates of IXth standard.

She was allegedly taunted by her friends in the class asking her, “Are you a boy or a girl?” besides subjecting her to physical abuse, touching her inappropriately in the classroom, as alleged by guardians.

Meanwhile, the victim appeared to have lost her mental balance and have been passing sleepless night recalling her harrowing experiences and ordeal she somehow overcame.

“She has been consulted with a psychiatrist in Tinsukia too and there is no improvement at all in her activities,” the father said, adding “She had recently participated and performed very well during a cultural programme at school.”

However, according to the guardians of the victim who visited the school on Thursday morning along with the activists of Gorkha student body taking up the matter with the school authority, Tilok Gupta, the chairman of the school management committee looked indifferent and did not respond well.

The pertinent questions here is about the management committee and facility members who did not have the knowledge of the incident that occurred during the school hours.

How could such nasty affair go unnoticed despite the teachers and other school employees were so closeby, wondered Gobin Chetry, a resident of nearby village.

“The CCTV footage which was denied by the school authority to the guardians of the victim might reveal the exact nature of the crime,” added Chetry. Meanwhile, the OC of Digboi Police Dibya Jyoti Dutta said that after registering the case, the investigation is afoot. “We would seize the CCTV footage and other material evidences to this affect and move accordingly as per law,” he said.

There are 21 minor accused in the case who would be counselled and dealt with according to Juvenile Justice Act if proved guilty of committing the act, informed a police officer.

A case No 163/2023 has been registered against the 21 minor students of the school u/s 342, 294A, 354,506,34 of IPC.

Ironically, despite stringent legal restrictions of the government and blanket ban on the menace of ragging across the educational institutions in the state of Assam, how could the CBSE affiliated Oil Valley School in Digboi be so causal about the menace.

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