Ten graduates from Peradeniya University were given a two-year Rigorous Imprisonment, each suspended for 10 years, and ordered to pay compensation by the Kandy Chief Magistrate after they pleaded guilty for a ragging incident committed in 2011.

They currently hold either administrative positions or are serving as teachers. The ragging victim had returned to his village in Hambantota without completing his degree, the court was told.

Kandy Chief Magistrate Shirinith Wijesekara ordered that each of the convicts pay Rs 550,000 to the victim, while a fine of Rs 5,000 each was also imposed. Accordingly the victim would receive a compensation of Rs 5.5 million.

The victim, who came from a poor family, had been dragged from his place of lodging, ragged severely in front of female students, and assaulted. The following day, the raggers mixed several parcels of food together and ordered him to eat it as an animal would do.

He had also been taken to another location, forced to engage in sexual acts with three other freshmen, and assaulted. He was also hung by his hands on a rafter.

The victim later claimed that he had thoughts of suicide following the ragging.

Due to injuries sustained, he had been hospitalised at the Peradeniya hospital on two occasions. Those who ragged him had threatened him with death and told him to say that the injuries had been caused following a fall, Deputy Solicitor General Lakmini Girihagama, who led the prosecution, told courts.

On the second occasion, the doctor treating him felt suspicious about the injuries, and on questioning the victim, he disclosed that the injuries were caused by ragging.

He had abandoned his studies and gone back to his village.

The magistrate severely warned the accused.

The case was filed under the Prohibition of Ragging and Other Forms of Violence in Educational Institutions Act, No. 20 of 1998.

(thesundaytimes.lk)

(Except for the headline, this story, originally published by sundaytimes.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)