IITKGP student’s death: Court seeks report on anti-ragging measures by institute

Calcutta High Court has asked the IIT Kharagpur Director to submit a report on steps being taken on complaints of ragging and whether the anti-ragging guidelines of the Supreme Court were followed at the institute. 

The The Calcutta High Court on Thursday said that the case of Faizan Ahmed, a third-year student of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, whose semi-decomposed body was found in his hostel room on October 14, 2022, appear to be of “ragging”. 

Take stern action against IITKGP: Court tells police 

It said, “There is substantial evidence before this court and the police have been taken for a ride. Mr Additional Superintendent of Police if there is suppression from IIT, please take action. We expect stern action, or we will have to take action against the management.” The court has asked the IIT Kharagpur Director to submit a report on steps being taken on complaints of ragging and whether the anti-ragging of the Supreme Court guidelines were followed at the institute. 

‘Deletion of Facebook post destruction of evidence’ 

Parents of Faizan Ahmed pointed at a deleted Facebook post to establish ragging. In a letter to district police chief Dinesh Kumar, Faizan’s lawyer Aniruddha Mitra alleged that a Facebook post and related comments on “IIT KGP confessions 3.0” have been deleted after the hearing of the writ petition on Faizan’s death in Calcutta High Court on November 3. “As this (deletion) amounts to a destruction of evidence, you are requested to interrogate the administrators of the Facebook page and find out on whose instructions, the same was deleted,” the lawyer wrote to the district police chief.  

The family's lawyer, Ranajit Chatterjee, said, “There is an evidence that ragging took place on the campus and adequate steps were not taken to control it. Had steps been taken, Faizan Ahmed could not have died.” 

Next hearing on Novermber 22 

Taking note of the evidence, the Calcutta High Court said, “We expect something very concrete at the next hearing. This court wants to know what steps have been taken by the wardens and management of IIT Kharagpur after receipt of information of what appears to be a case of ragging.” The court will take up the matter for next hearing on November 22, 2022. 

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