Ragged, Mumbai teen drops out of medical college in 3 days

Getting through a medical institute was his dream but barely three days after he joined the Government Medical College Akola 17yearold Anwar name changed withdrew his admission The reason Seniors ragged him on all three days to the extent that it caused him mental stress and he began to feel scared of continuing in the college for five yearsAnwar has decided to take the MHCET again next year and gain admission to a better medical college closer to home PicPradeep DhivarHe is so afraid that he has refused to go back to the institute and instead will reappear for the medical entrance test next year in the hope of getting through to another college Anwar who is now back in the city has mustered the courage to lodge an official complaint with the medical education authorities as well as the dean of the institute about the incidentAnwar lives in a Mumbai chawl with his mother maternal uncles and their families in He finished his junior college studies in the science stream from SIES College Dreaming of becoming a doctor Anwar burned the midnight oil to prepare for the MHCET the common entrance test for gaining entry to medical collegesldquoI got admission to this college in the fourth list and joined the institute on September 23 On the same night some finalyear students came to my room and enquired about my background and where I came from I told them about myself and that my family was in Mumbai This I was told by my roommate was my big mistakerdquo said AnwarHis roommates explained to him that students whose families are not in the same city become easy targets for ragging ldquoSince we are on our own seniors harass us knowing very well that we will not run back to our families that easilyrdquo he added Pretty soon the seniors started walking in and out of the firstyear studentsrsquo hostel and picked on the newcomers with Anwar being a regular targetScared and scarredOn September 24 the college had declared a holiday on account of the Navratri festival and while most of his batchmates went to a temple close by Anwar chose to study in his room ldquoWe were informed that girls would be shifted into one of the buildings so the boys were asked to shift to another buildingA group of seniors picked on some of us and we were made to move luggage They kept using abusive language all the time and behaved indecently with some of us We were being told that this is not ragging and that no complaints would be entertained Not a single batchmate was ready to complain to the authorities about the abuse out of fearrdquo Anwar recalledHe added that apart from the regular lsquoquestioning sessionrsquo that he had to face with the seniors he was also asked to bow his head whenever he walked past a senior and greet them with respect The harassment continued on the third day as well by this time Anwar was truly scaredldquoI had also noticed liquor bottles in one of the storerooms in the hostel but never mentioned it to anyone I was too stressed to even complain about any of this incidentrdquo he added Anwar immediately enquired about the procedure to withdraw his admission and submitted his application the next day ldquoSeptember 27 was supposed to be the last date to withdraw admission and any delay after that would have resulted in a fine of Rs 5 lakhI didnrsquot even have the courage to tell the dean the correct reasons I shared everything with my mother and she agreed I should leave the instituterdquo he added Anwar had paid the fees with the help of funds raised by a junior college professor of his Sheikh Mohammed Madni and teaching in coaching centres Anwar also confided in MadnildquoIrsquove know this student for many years and seen how hardworking he is Since his familyrsquos financial situation was not very good he used to take tuitions to raise money to pay his college fees Despite all this he managed to score 9038 in HSC boards and got this seat through merit Itrsquos really sad he had to quit the institute because of such a bad experiencerdquo said MadniAnwar has decided to wait for a year and appear for the MHCET again next year in the hope of bagging a seat in a better college ldquoHe had gotten through to a wellknown dental college in the city which he declined because his dream was to finish MBBSIt is unfair that he has to lose an academic year because of an issue which is considered a crime nowrdquo Madni added Anwar has also lodged a complaint with the Directorate of Medical Education and Research DMER as well as the dean of the institute in Akola