SRINAGAR: The Karnataka Police arrested five senior MBBS students on Wednesday for allegedly ragging and assaulting a second-year student from Kashmir at Al-Ameen Medical College in Vijayapura district.
The accused were booked under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Karnataka Education Act, 1983, and are currently in police custody, The Indian Express reported.
The incident occurred on Tuesday during a cricket match between the 2019 and 2022 MBBS batches. The victim, identified as Hamim Ghulam Bhat from Anantnag, Kashmir, alleged that his seniors ordered him to leave the ground, and when he refused, they subjected him to humiliation, forcing him to dance and salute. Later that night, a group of seniors allegedly barged into his hostel room, assaulted him, and coerced him into recording an apology video under duress.
The accused, identified as Mohammed Zainul (23), Sameer (24), Shaik Sawood (23), Mansoor Bhasha (24), and Muzzaffer alias Mujeeb Jamadar (23), also allegedly threatened Bhat, warning him against playing cricket for the next four years and claiming they would make his stay at the college unbearable.
Nasir Khuehami of the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association (JKSA) condemned the incident, calling it a failure of institutional safeguards against ragging. He urged authorities to take strict action to ensure the safety of non-local students. Following Bhat’s complaint, the Vijayapura rural police launched an investigation, leading to the arrests. Further legal proceedings are underway.
