Over time, ragging in schools and colleges has become a common practice. In fact, students have become so misbehaved that they have started ragging teachers in schools.
Of late, the police in Madhya Pradesh have also been receiving several complaints from students being exploited on the college campus by mischievous seniors.
MP cops have been receiving complaints that first-year students were allegedly made to perform vulgar tasks like pretending to have sex with pillows among others. The anti-ragging helpline in New Delhi received this information from an anonymous victim in July this year. The ragging went so out of hand that the cops had to plan a crackdown to hold those responsible.
And for this purpose, the MP police sent a 24-year-old female police constable to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College in Indore disguised as a student, reported NDTV.
The cop named Shalini Chouhan went to the college as a student for over three months and successfully managed to identify 11 senior students allegedly involved in the brutal ragging of first-year students.
Talking about the stint, Inspector Tehzeeb Qazi leading the undercover operation said, “We went to check on the campus, but the students were so scared that they did not come forward once they saw us in uniform. We tried to track down the contact numbers of the complainants, but the helpline’s policy did not allow that.”
Since the anonymous complainants denied naming anyone, the cops went the old-school way to track the accusers.
“So, we went back to good old ground-level policing. Shalini and other constables were asked to spend time on and around the campus in plain clothes, and chat with students at the canteen and tea stalls nearby. As they started speaking to junior students, they came to know of the horrifying experience they were going through. This is how we got witnesses and cracked the case,” said Qazi.
Talking about her experience, Chouhan said, “I would go to college every day disguised as a student. I spoke to students at the canteen. I would talk about myself, and gradually they started opening up and confiding in me.”
She would carry a bag with books and dress up like a college student ensuring she looked like a student. When quizzed if someone ever doubted her, Chouhan said, “Sometimes they would ask questions, but I would evade them and change the topic. The canteen would be crowded, and they did not give much thought.”
As a result of her undercover operation, the accused seniors have been suspended from the college and the hostel for three months.
Kudos to this officer for going the highway to catch the culprits. We need more cops like her.