Hyderabad: Twelve final-year Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) students of Govt Dental College and Hospital (GDC&H), Afzalgunj, were booked by police for allegedly ragging first-year students and assaulting senior students who attempted to intervene. The college administration has also suspended the accused students for six months.In a complaint filed with Sultan Bazaar police on Tuesday night, GDC&H principal Dr Sanjeev Singh Yadav reported that the ragging incident took place at the students’ hostel located on the Osmania Medical College campus in Koti. According to the principal, the harassment had been ongoing for nearly six months.The complaint stated that, based on the recommendations of the college’s anti-ragging committee, 12 final-year BDS students from the 2022–23 batch were suspended for six months for ragging 12 first-year students and assaulting interns from the 2020 batch who had tried to stop the harassment.The incidents came to the administration’s notice on June 9 through written complaints by two interns. In their letters, the interns alleged that first-year BDS students of the 2025 batch were being subjected to ragging and harassment by final-year students.The interns further stated that on the night of June 8, while attempting to protect first-year students from ragging at the hostel, a scuffle broke out during which one of their friends sustained an injury to his left eye.Following the complaints, the principal and the boys’ hostel warden convened a meeting with all parties involved. “All parties were counselled and apologised to each other. However, the interns and postgraduate students who intervened to stop the ragging were later threatened and physically assaulted by the final-year students on the night of June 10,” the principal stated in his complaint.An inquiry committee was constituted on June 11 to investigate the allegations. The committee submitted its report the following day. Based on its findings, the anti-ragging committee, hostel warden and resident medical officer held separate meetings with the students involved on June 12 and June 15.“During the inquiry, first-year students said that some final-year students had subjected them to various forms of ragging. These included forcing them to procure cigarettes and alcohol, perform punishments such as wall-chair exercises and sit-ups, and miss classes. The students also reported that they were awakened at odd hours to fill coolers with water and arrange five-litre water cans for seniors,” the principal stated in his complaint.According to the complaint, the first-year students further alleged that they were made to bring curries and rice by walking long distances regardless of the time and, in some cases, spend their own money to purchase items required by the final-year students.Based on the inquiry findings, the college administration suspended the 12 final-year students on June 15. The principal subsequently approached the police seeking protection for the students who had reported the alleged ragging.Sultan Bazaar police registered a case against the suspended students under relevant sections of the BNS and the Telangana Prohibition of Ragging Act.“We have issued notices to all the accused students directing them to appear before the investigating officer for questioning. They have also been counselled not to harass or intimidate other students,” Sultan Bazaar inspector G Naresh said. (With inputs from Ajay Tomar)
