18-year-old student of a medical college in Gujarat’s Patan district died Saturday night after allegedly being made to stand for three hours during ragging by seniors at his hostel.Police said Sunday that they have sought a report from the anti-ragging committee of the college while authorities at the institute said the incident is being probed.Anil Natwarbhai Methaniya, from Jesda village in Surendranagar district, was a first-year student at GMERS Medical College and Hospital at Dharpur in Patan.His cousin Dharmendra Methaniya told reporters that he received a call from his uncle informing about Anil falling unconscious. “When we reached the college, we were told that he is dead and the body has been sent for postmortem. We heard that first-year students were ragged by third-year students and Anil was made to stand for 2-3 hours. We demand a fair investigation into his death,” he said.Anil’s batchmates, who did not want to be named, told The Indian Express that he was among more than 10 students who were ragged Saturday night. “Based on the region fro where we came, we were told to gather at designated hostel blocks around 9 pm. This was communicated on the WhatsApp student groups. We were asked to give our introduction after standing for more than three hours,” a first-year student said. College Dean Dr Hardik Shah said some students took Anil to the Dharpur Hospital’s emergency department after he fell unconscious. He was later declared dead.The anti-ragging committee of the college has started a probe into the incident. We have informed the police too. We will take strict action against those involved if found guilty of ragging,” Shah said.Patan SP Dr Ravindra Patel said, “We have registered an accidental death report at Balisana police station. We have written to the anti-ragging committee of the medical college to submit their report at the earliest. We will take the required action based on it.”
