Ragging is the term used for the so-called "initiation ritual" practiced in higher education institutions in India, Pakistan,[1] Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
At the national level, ragging is currently defined as: "Any act of physical or mental abuse (including bullying and exclusion) targeted at another student (fresher or otherwise) on the ground of colour, race, religion, caste, ethnicity, gender, appearance, nationality, regional origins, linguistic identity, place of birth, place of residence or economic background.
However, the Anti-Ragging NGO Society Against Violence in Education (SAVE) has supported that ragging is also widely and dangerously prevalent in engineering and other institutions, mainly in the hostels.
[9][10] India's National Anti-Ragging Helpline started working in June 2009 to help students in distress due to ragging.
[citation needed] A major concern that was highlighted against the helpline was that it registered a minuscule percentage (0.1%) of the total phone calls it received.
Subsequently, a major boost to anti-ragging efforts was given by a landmark judgement of the Supreme Court of India in May 2001,[18] in response to a Public Interest Litigation filed by the Vishwa Jagriti Mission founded by Sudhanshu Ji Maharaj.
[20][21] The charge-sheet filed by the Mumbai Police alleges that the ragging in this case consisted of harassment, humiliation, and discrimination, which directly led to her suicide.
Kshirsagar, principle of the Maharashtra Institute of Technology's College of Engineering, was arrested and charged under Section 7 of the Act, for failing to investigate and neglecting his duties under the law, in a case involving three students who had been accused of ragging the previous year.
[25] In 2025, Mihir Ahammed a 15-year-old student of the Global Public School Ernakulam, Kochi committed suicide after he was ragged by his senior classmates.
According to the police, the student committed suicide by jumping off the 26th floor of a 40-story flat complex in Thrippunithura, An employee working there found him dead on the third-floor truss of the building.
[29] The Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), following a directive by the Supreme Court, appointed a seven-member panel headed by former CBI director Dr. R. K. Raghavan to recommend anti-ragging measures.
The Supreme Court of India interim order[31] (based on the recommendations) dated 16 May 2007 makes it obligatory for academic institutions to file official First Information Reports with the police in any instance of a complaint of ragging.
[32] In 2007, the Supreme Court directed that all the higher educational institutions should include information about all the ragging incidents in their brochures/prospectus of admission.
[34] These regulation mandate every college responsibilities to curb ragging, including strict pre-emptive measures, like lodging freshers in a separate hostel, surprise raids at night by the anti-ragging squad and submission of affidavits by all senior students and their parents taking oath not to indulge in ragging.
[41][42] There is no record to suggest that ragging is an indigenous phenomenon or was present in the ancient Sri Lankan educational institutions such as Mahavihara or Abhayagiri Vihara.
Sri Lankan soldiers returning from war re-entered the college educational system and brought with them the tradition and techniques of military style ragging.
These techniques were used in the military as a mechanism of breaking down an individual so that success was achieved through team effort rather than personal goals or motivation.
As fewer military persons entered the universities, ragging devolved into a violent and hazardous exercise that has been largely utilized for political purposes and thuggery.
[41] Ragging continues in most government universities and several private institutions with some efforts being made to contain the problem, although there is hesitation from administrations to get involved.
[43] The creation of 'safe spaces' and travelling in larger groups are just some techniques employed by a growing movement of students trying to combat ragging.
Traditionally, ragging would entail seniors mocking or jeering at freshers within a dedicated period of time – usually the first few months of an undergraduate's university life.
[44] Ragging has been frequently associated with a broad spectrum of physical, behavioral, emotional and social problems among victims and is attributed to the increased risk of suicide and drop-outs among students attending Sri Lankan universities.
After the series of ragging-related incidents happened in 1997, Prohibition of Ragging and Other Forms of Violence in Educational Institutions Act, No.
Several faculties in several universities have become rag-free due to these movements, strengthened laws as well as practical difficulties in conducting ragging such as not providing accommodation facilities to the first-year students.
The higher education minister at the time, S. B. Dissanayake, stressed that firm action will be taken against those who are found guilty of such activities in future and would be expelled from the university.