Undergrads Arrested for Ragging at Kelaniya University - Update

Undergrads Arrested for Ragging at Kelaniya University - Update

After the senior 4 female undergraduates and 1 male undergraduate who reprimanded in harsh words saying "until an year passes these are prohibited to you" and even continuously kept on creating trouble for a particular female undergraduate who was a fresher was finally taken into police custody, 2 other male
undergraduates of the First Year were taken into custody yesterday for having threatened her over the telephone. As such, all 7 of them were produced before Magistrate's Court yesterday.

On this occasion what the attorney-at-law who appeared on behalf of the arrested undergraduates said was that although the seniors being arrested could be accepted under the Prevention of Ragging Act, arresting those following studies in the same Year as the victim poses a problematic situation.  At the same time he said that according to provisions of the Act, prohibiting wearing of slacks is not something that warrants an arrest as such. He goes on to say that other than a case of sexual harassment or an assault which warrants hospitalisation, this form of arrest cannot be carried out.

All these undergraduates in fact were taken into police custody at the time when they were in their homes. They were arrested in Pitabeddera, Urubokka, Ruwanwella, Nittambuwa and Kiribathgoda from police stations in those areas and have been directed to Kiribathgoda Police and in turn to Magistrate's Court in which instance they were remanded as there was no one to bail them out. The Magistrate stated that the Ragging Act was approved in the year 1998 and that if the Act had been read, these offences would not have been committed and therefore he is not in a position to grant bail; in which case he mentioned that bail should be applied from Supreme Courts. Under such conditions he had remanded the 7 female and male undergraduates until next 17th.

Previous article on this incident, from here.