Kasaragod: Najeeb Qadiri (16), (name changed to protect identity), a Plus One humanities student, does not even know the seniors who slapped, thrashed and humiliated him on June 23. That Monday was only his fifth day at Government Higher Secondary School, Paivalike. What he knows is that he would not like to return to the school.

That afternoon, after the last bell, he ran into a girl from his old school, GHSS, Mangalpady, at the bus stop. She asked if he had transferred to Paivalike. He said no, it was a direct admission. They exchanged a few words and she walked away. "That's when five seniors confronted my son for talking to a girl," said his mother, Ayesha A. "They slapped him repeatedly. One of them hit his head in public."

Since the classes started for Plus One students on June 18, the seniors of GHSS, Paivalike, had been terrorising the freshers. Qadiri had earlier been assaulted for wearing shoes. Seniors enforce their own dress code in school. "They insist that Plus One students must wear full sleeves, keep the collar button fastened at all times, and avoid watches or shoes," Ayesha said. They also make juniors do push-ups inside the toilet, she said.

The family, which lives in a rented house in Uppala, a 30-minute commute from the school, is paralysed with fear. "My son is scared to go back," she said. "And so are we. We read about deaths and suicides every day," said the homemaker. Her husband, Muhammed Musthafa, works in a supermarket at Hosangadi in Manjeshwar. They are hoping their son gets a transfer to the school at Mangalpady.

Just three days before Qadiri’s assault, Plus Two students at GHSS, Adhur, allegedly turned on their juniors. Fahim Ameen N (name changed to protect identity), a commerce student, is nursing a fractured forearm after seniors assaulted him, shoved him down and flung a bench at him in the classroom. "The seniors were aiming for his head. He broke his arm while trying to block the blow," said Ameen's maternal aunt Ayesha, a makeup artist. The doctor has advised complete rest for six weeks. If the bone is dislocated again, surgery may be required.

"When he came home that day, there were shoe prints all over his shirt, on the chest, on the back," said Ayesha. Despite the injuries, it was Ameen who ran out of the classroom and into the neighbouring police station to report the assault. "The school shares a wall with the police station," Ayesha said. "Yet no teacher stepped in. They were too afraid it would damage the school’s reputation."

Ameen said the same group of seniors had cornered him in the toilet earlier that day. "They got physical with him. When he objected, they slapped him," Ayesha said. Minutes later, they stormed the classroom with reinforcements and attacked.

In both cases, the police are treating it as a routine assault case. In Qadiri’s case, Manjeshwar police registered an FIR under sections related to rioting, unlawful assembly, wrongful restraint and voluntarily causing hurt. But they didn't invoke the Kerala Prohibition of Ragging Act, a law meant specifically for incidents like this.

Manjeshwar Station House Officer - Inspector Anoob Kumar E said: "We can invoke the law only after a written complaint from the school. We've written to them. We're waiting for their response."

Principal Dominic Augustian of GHSS Paivalike said the school acted swiftly. "I was informed of the incident on June 24. Our five-member Anti-Ragging Committee took the student's written and oral statements," he said. The committee also received another complaint from a student who was made to do push-ups in the toilet. "The two incidents were found to be ragging. At 3 pm, we convened a PTA meeting and presented our findings. Once the PTA endorsed it, our political science teacher, Unnikrishnan, hand-delivered the students' complaints to the Manjeshwar police station with my note in red ink marking them as ragging."

Yet, only Qadiri’s assault resulted in an FIR — and that too, without charges under the anti-ragging law. The push-up in the toilet may be, too, a trivial case.

At GHSS, Adhur, the pattern repeated. Senior teacher Joby John said the principal suspended nine students based on the findings of the Anti-Ragging Committee and submitted the report to the police. Still, the FIR registered on June 25 against two Plus II students for assaulting Ameen did not mention the anti-ragging law.

"We wanted exemplary punishment for what happened to our child," said his aunt Ayesha. "Suspension is like a vacation for them."

The same day Ameen was assaulted, Nihal Saif (15) (name changed to protect identity), another first-year student, was also beaten up by seniors. He was allegedly attacked three times — during the morning interval, while leaving for Juma prayers, and again after the last bell. "The last assault was the worst," said his uncle Basheer. "His shirt was torn. His neck twisted."

Nihal borrowed a shirt from a house near the school before going home, trying to hide what had happened. It was only that night, when he couldn't lie down on the bed, that he confided in his family. It took treatment at two hospitals before he got some relief from the pain. "Boys are doubly victimised by schoolyard brutality," said Basheer. "They are attacked and humiliated. And then they suffer in silence." Ameen's aunt Ayesha echoed the sentiment. "Today, we are more scared of sending our boys to school than our girls."

Like Qadiri and Ameen, Nihal has not returned to school, yet. In his case, however, the police did invoke the Kerala Prohibition of Ragging Act -- and booked seven Plus II students, all 18 or older.

Under Section 4 of the Act, a conviction can lead to a two-year imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000. Section 6 mandates dismissal from the institution and a three-year ban from admission to any other educational institution.

Ragging despite awareness drives
GHSS Paivalike Principal Dominic Augustian said the ragging incidents were despite the preventive steps he had taken. "We held classes by social workers, lawyers, and counsellors about the consequences of ragging," he said. "But apparently, these kids know the law better than us. One boy even told me which police station wouldn’t grant them bail."

Augustian, who took charge on March 28, said he is trying to change a culture of defiance and destruction. "This year alone, Plus Two students broke the doors of the western-style toilets and the flushes of the Indian toilets in a ₹7 lakh toilet complex. A Plus One student smashed the plumbing," he said.

A ceiling fan installed in a Plus One classroom was bent out of shape. "I threatened to hold the next PTA meeting in that classroom if they didn't fix the fan," he said. "But we’re not giving up on these children."

The school's alumni are all over the world and have formed a school protection group to mentor the students. Despite her fears, Qadiri's mother Ayesha empathised with the Plus Two student. "We didn't want to press charges. After all, they're kids too," she said of her son's attackers.