Five third-year nursing students from the Government Nursing College in Kottayam, Kerala, have been arrested for allegedly ragging first-year students, the police said on Wednesday.
The arrest follows a complaint filed by three first-year students, who accused their seniors of subjecting them to months of harassment. The ragging reportedly began last November and continued for nearly three months before the victims came forward.
According to the complaint, the students were forced to stand naked and subjected to cruel treatment using weightlifting dumbbells. They also alleged that compasses and similar objects were used to injure them, with lotion being applied to the wounds afterwards. The juniors were allegedly made to have cream applied to their faces, heads, and mouths.
The victims further accused the senior students of regularly extorting money from them on Sundays to buy alcohol and of physically assaulting them.
The three students, unable to endure the abuse any longer, reported the incident to the Kottayam Gandhinagar police, leading to the arrest of the accused. The police have registered a case and are investigating the matter further.
