IIT Mandi Punishes Students For Ragging Incident; Suspends 10 For 6 Months

The IIT-Mandi took the disciplinary action after investigating anonymous complaints about an event organized by seniors on August 11.

After a sorrowful incident of ragging at the Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi (IIT-Mandi), the institute has restricted a batch of senior students to have interaction with freshers for this whole semester. The Premiere Institute in Himalayas has also initiated a disciplinary action against 72 students and suspended 10 for a period six months after the incident which was reported on August 11, 2023. The incident occurred during an event "freshers' mixer" held last month.

According to the media reports, the Principal of IIT-Mandi, Laxmidhar Behera in an email to all students on August 20 said that the seniors "violated" “laxman rekha (off limit)” and 72 of them were found “guilty of participating in ragging to various degrees".

Culprits were Punishment

Those involved have been fined Rs 15,000 and 20 hours of community service; a fine of Rs 20,000 and 40 hours of community service; a fine of Rs 25,000 and 60 hours of community service; and a six-month suspension from academics and hostel.

The Indian Express has reported that the 10 suspended students, including three student body office-bearers who were responsible for organising the “freshers’ mixer” and have since been stripped of their posts, have also vacated their hostel rooms.

The IIT-Mandi took the disciplinary action after investigating anonymous complaints about an event organized by seniors on August 11.

Appeal by Punished Students

According to sources, some of the punished students have appealed to the institute for a reconsideration of the punishment. The students in their defense said that that the prank played on new students is done every year during the freshers’ event. They claimed that it was misunderstood for ragging.