Arunachal Pradesh: Alleged ragging of minor reported at Itanagar school, police deny link with viral video

An alleged case of ragging has been reported from a school in Arunachal Pradesh state capital Itanagar.

A viral video has been doing the round while claiming that an incident of ragging has taken place at the Sangay Lhaden Sports Academy. Along with the video, the news is also doing the round that senior boys ragged younger boys at the school premises while assaulting them. 

While responding to the claims of the viral video, Itanagar Capital Region SP, Rohit Rajbir Singh, said that the viral video is not from the Sangay Lhaden Sports Academy. Here, the SP said that a separate incident of fight among the boys did take place at the school and an enquiry has been initiated into the matter. However, he did not call it an incident of ragging. 

"Sangay Lhaden Sports Academy falls under the Chimpu police station. The SDPO went there and met the academy director. It has been found that the viral video is not of Sangay Lhaden Sports Academy. There had been an incident of fight in the school yesterday evening between students from different classes. Some seniors assaulted the juniors. The medical test of the students is being conducted. Legal action will be taken on the basis of the medical test report and the complaints by the parents or guardians. Members of the Child Welfare Committee have also come and they are taking statements from the students. The parents of the students are also there, taking to the police and the school authorities. We have also talked to the district administration, and they shall intervene wherever is required," said the Itanagar Capital Region SP.  

The Itanagar Capital Region SP further clarified that the viral video and the incident at the Sangay Lhaden Sports Academy are not connected in any way. 

"An incident has taken place at the Sangay Lhaden Sports Academy. We are dealing with it. We shall take all the legal formalities. We shall also given counselling to the children. But the viral video is not related to the incident. The video should not be connected to the incident. We are also trying to find as to where the viral video is from, whether it is old or recent, or if it is from another state, which time period it is from. We still dont know it yet, but we are on the job," said Singh. 

This not the first time that reports of ragging have surfaced from the Sangay Lhaden Sports Academy though. There have been reports earlier as well about alleged ragging incidents. There had been rumours of a ragging incident in June earlier this year. However no report was filed with the police. 

Responding to earlier reports on alleged ragging incidents, the school director Tadar Apa said that they have never recieved any complaint till now. But now after getting complaints, they ahve initiated action. 

"I never recieved any complaints about any past incidents. There is a principal to run the academy. I always hold discussion with the principal and the caretakers regarding any problems. They never talked of any problem. Today I talked to the children and told them that earlier they should have come to me and talked to me so that I could have taken action earlier as well. But today I got the complaint and I assured the children now that justice will be served. But I never recieved anything before," said the academy director.