India recorded 51 ragging-related deaths in colleges from 2022 to 2024: Report

A new study reveals 51 ragging-related deaths happened across Indian universities and colleges between 2022 and 2024 - a death toll comparable to student suicides in Rajasthan’s coaching hub Kota during the same period.

The ‘State of Ragging in India 2022-24’ report by the Society Against Violence in Education (SAVE) identifies medical colleges as particular “hotspots” for ragging violence. The findings analyse 3,156 complaints logged with the national anti-ragging helpline from 1,946 institutions nationwide.

“Medical colleges are a particular area of concern, accounting for 38.6 pc of total complaints, 35.4 pc of serious complaints, and 45.1 pc of ragging-related deaths during 2022-24, despite making up only 1.1 pc total students. The data also revealed that 51 lives were lost to ragging during this period, nearly matching the 57 student suicides reported in Kota,” the report said.

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The authors claimed that the number of complaints was much higher than what was given in the report.

“It is not to say that the entire India registered just 3,156 ragging complaints in 3 years, these are just the complaints registered at the National Anti-Ragging Helpline. There is a huge number of complaints that are registered directly to the colleges, and also directly to the police if the case is serious,” the report said.

“All such cases fail to get reflected in the numbers available at the Anti-Ragging Helpline, and hence in this report. And to top it all, the actual incidents of serious ragging will still be much higher in educational institutions as a small number of victims only in general muster courage to come forward and report, others just silently suffer for fear of their safety after making any complaint,” it added.

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The report recommended that the National Anti-Ragging Helpline should accept anonymous complaints to protect victims’ identities.

“The colleges must establish Anti-Ragging Squads with dedicated security guards, whose contact details should be shared with freshers. CCTV surveillance in hostels should be monitored by security personnel, anti-ragging committees, and parents,” it said.

It suggested that the CCTV footage in hostels should be monitored by security personnel, anti-ragging committees, and also even parents.

“Moreover, the freshers should be accommodated in separate hostels as per UGC and NMC regulations, and the institutions must file police complaints within 24 hours for serious ragging cases,” it added.