2 youths held for ragging junior in Kovai

COIMBATORE: Two students of a private engineering college and staff of a tea stall were arrested for ragging the former’s junior by assaulting him in Coimbatore on Friday.

Police said Muthukumar (21) from Karur and Gokul (21) from Kumbakonam, had picked up a quarrel with an 18-year-old student from Salem, who is studying second year in the same college, over his style of dressing.

“The two seniors had gone to the room of the complainant in the hostel and gave instructions to the junior students on dress code. They were asked to wear only full sleeves, shirts tucked-in and wish the seniors. While they were talking, the complainant walked out of the room in a tiff and his behaviour infuriated the senior students,” police said.

In a further development, Muthukumar and Gokul asked a group of second year students to come to the room of a student staying outside the college. “As they went, the senior students asked everyone, except the complainant, to go after a warning. They took him to another room of one of their friends Dhanabal (25), working in a tea shop and the trio assaulted him,” police said.

Based on a complaint by the second year student, the Sulur police arrested the two students and staff of the tea shop. They were booked on various counts including Section 4 of Tamil Nadu Ragging Prohibition Act, 1997. This incident has sent shockwaves as just recently seven students were arrested for tonsuring and stripping a junior naked in the hostel of a private college.