2 students charged with attempted murder over ragging incident in India

Two college students in India have been charged with attempt to murder in a ragging incident of a young woman belonging to Dalit community, police said.

The students (seniors at Al Qamar college) last month allegedly forced the first-year nursing student to drink phenyl (disinfectant) inside the nursing institute in southwestern Indian state of Karnataka, which burnt her internal organs.

The woman is being treated at a hospital in Kerala and her condition was stated to be critical. According to doctors, attending her, she was unable to eat or drink and even swallow her saliva.

"In a police complaint, she had named five of eight seniors who allegedly held her and forced phenyl down her throat on May 9," an official said on Thursday.

According to doctors she will need surgery to repair her damaged food pipe.

Dalits were previously known as untouchables in India and fall at the bottom of India's caste hierarchy.

Ragging is a form of physical and mental abuse often meted out to college newcomers. Though ragging is banned under law in India, there are reports of its prevalence in some institutions.

The college authorities denied that the incident was the result of ragging and said the young woman consumed the disinfectant due to "family problems."

However, police officials said they have sent the teams to question the girl students named by the victim.

"In the first information report with the police, it is clearly written that she was wrongfully restrained in her room and there is a section of attempt to murder," Shashi Kumar, a senior police official at Kalburgi district of Karnataka said. Endit