Ragging: Students Made to Dance, Beaten Up at University in Odisha

The Odisha government ordered an inquiry into alleged incident of ragging of junior students.

(Photo: Video screengrab)

The Odisha government on Thursday, 22 August, ordered an inquiry into an alleged incident of ragging of junior students by their seniors at the prestigious Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT) at Sambalpur.

The government action came after a video went viral on social media recently involving about 50 junior engineering students.

The video purportedly shows the junior students made to dance by holding their ears. They were also beaten up by the senior students. It also shows a junior student’s shirt being ripped off by a senior student.

The ragging took place at a function that was organised to welcome the junior students.

“The registrar of VVSUT has been asked to conduct a probe into the alleged incident and action will be taken after receiving the report.”

Skill Development & Technical Education Minister Premanand Nayak to reporters

The vice-chancellor of VSSUT, Atal Choudhury, denied having any knowledge about the incident. "We will inquire into the incident," he said.

A similar incident happened in the institute last year.

The authorities had initiated action against 20 students.