Stany Bela
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Jul 2: Incidents of ragging have resurfaced in Manguluru-bound trains, especially on the Mangaluru-Kannur route. The bullies and the victims, both happen to be students from various colleges in the city.

Years back, bullying and travelling with lethal weapons was a common affair on the route. But after substantial objections from passengers, officials succeeded in putting an end to the problem. Some groups of bullies disappeared after the completion of their academics. But now, fresh groups have emerged, ragging younger students who use trains to commute.

Passengers can see the bullying on the Trivandrum Express which starts its journey from Mangaluru every afternoon and on the Kannur Passenger and Chennai Super trains that depart in the evenings.

As per the victims, they were forced by bullies to sing, sit on an imaginary chair, provide commentary for an imaginary game of cricket, perform mimicry of politicians, ride an imaginary bike, among other ragging tasks. On not performing the tasks, victims were subject to assault by the seniors in the train toilets.

If elder passengers interfere with the ragging, the groups allegedly turn on them or threaten and abuse them. The stop after Mangaluru on the Chennai Express is Kasargod. There is thus no option of getting down or onto another train in between. At the same time, these bullying groups have ensured that there is no presence of the police personnel between the two stations.

Ashok (name changed) from Kumbla, who studies in a college of repute in Mangaluru informed that he was ragged four times aboard the Kannur Passenger Train, in the month of June alone. "The bullies are not from my college. The first time they commanded me to sing Hindi songs from the 90s. I sang two songs that I knew. So they let me go me, but caught hold of another student. The second time I encountered them, they forced me to provide a cricket commentary for an imaginary game. I told them I could not. So, one of them held me by my collar and taught me how to give an imaginary commentary. I eventually did. The third and fourth times, I was forced to ride an imaginary bike. Now, I just take the bus to college."

Gaurav and Kalandar are both from Kasargod and study in Mangaluru. A few days back, they were assaulted by a group of seniors. The second day, they both got into the train with some youths from their hometown. Seeing this, the bullies disappeared from the railway station altogether.

Malini, who works in an accounting firm in Mangaluru and has been a regular Trivandrum Express commuter for the last six months said, "At the time of travel, I see many innocent juniors being ragged by senior students. After seeing the condition of victims, I had interfered once or twice. But the bullies threatened me with abusive words."

Nowadays, a majority of colleges have succeeded in putting an end to ragging on campus. The bullies thus seem to have shifted their notorious activities to trains. Due to their cruel behaviour, co-passengers face a lot of trouble and humiliation. They fear a possibility of an imminent assault or gang war with lethal weapons in trains if no action is taken against the bullies, a sight that existed many years back.

When contacted, the railway police at Mangaluru station said that no complaints of ragging had been received so far.

"If students face ragging while travelling from Mangaluru to Kasargod or Kannur, they should file complaints in the nearby police stations in Manjeshwer, Kumble or Kasargod town. Similarly, victims of ragging travelling to Mangaluru can file complaints with Mangaluru railway police. Students can complain about ragging on phone too," an official said, adding that co-passengers can inform about ragging with the photos or videos as proof.

"Railway protection force will take this issue seriously and initiate necessary steps including beat patrol and shadow policing. We will discuss this issue with Kasargod railway police and take necessary steps to catch the ragging groups," the official said.

Incidents of ragging can be reported to:

Mangalore railway police - 0824-2220559

Manjeshwar police station - 04998-272640 / 04998-213037