Kasaragod: A 16-year-old Class 11 student was knocked unconscious for six hours after 10 to 15 seniors assaulted him and stomped on his neck when he tried to stop them from ragging his friend for not fastening the top button of his shirt at Government Higher Secondary School, Madikkai.

Hosdurg Station House Office- Inspector Ajith Kumar P said a case of assault has been registered against 10 students of Class XII.

Police have invoked Section 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), Section 126(2) (wrongful restraint), Section 296(b) (obscene acts in a public place), and Section 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against the seniors. The police have not yet invoked the stringent Kerala Prohibition of Ragging Act because the school has not yet reported it as such, the inspector said.

The attack happened in the school on August 5, said the victim, Muhammed Shaneed (16), a science student and a native of Balla Kadappuram in Kanhangad.

Around 3.30 pm on August 5, Shaneed said he saw his friend, a Class XI commerce student, being physically harassed by seniors near the restroom for not buttoning his school shirt up to the collar. "They were pushing and slapping him. My friends and I stepped out to extract him. We managed to pull him out. But that's when around 10 to 15 seniors turned on me," Shaneed told Onmanorama, over the phone from his home, wearing a cervical collar.

Shaneed said the seniors pushed him to the ground and began stomping on his chest, waist, legs, and neck. "The last thing I remember was someone stomping on my neck. I felt it crack, then I blacked out," he said.

He said he regained consciousness around six hours later at 9.30 pm. "Doctors told me there were bruises around my neck. I am not able to turn or lift my head," he said.

According to him, a teacher had found him unconscious, taken him to the staff room, rubbed his feet, and then rushed him to the District Hospital. His family then moved him to a private hospital in Kanhangad.

He said that when he gave his statement to the police, he did not know the names of those who assaulted him. "But after that, I went through their photographs and identified around 15 students," Shaneed said.

When contacted, school principal Vinod Kumar A K confirmed there was a ragging angle to the assault on Shaneed. "The anti-ragging committee discussed it on Wednesday. We are waiting for a written complaint from the victim," he said at 8.30 pm on Wednesday. He also said that the committee would meet again on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the student said he sent his complaint to the principal by evening. "I have mentioned that it was ragging," he said.

This is the second case of serious assault of a Class XI student in the same school. In March 2024, four seniors thrashed and broke the jaws of Nived K P for refusing to play Holi.

Onmanorama contacted Nived's parents to know the status of the case on Wednesday. Police booked a case of assault and wrongful restraint against Shivanandhu, Vivek and two other students, said Nived's father Babu K P, a driver. "The case is dragging, but my son still experiences pain while chewing. He doesn't tell me... He tells his mother,"

Doctors at Pariyaram Medical College have fixed steel plates on both sides of his jaw.

His mother Lekha, who works in a dance school, said Nived wanted to join the Indian Air Force. "Now he is studying to become an X-ray technician in Udupi. That's not what he wanted to become," she said.

She said the main accused challenged her that he would face the case legally. "The parents of Vivek once came home and requested us to drop the case. The mothers of the third and fourth accused often call me with the same demand. But we are not backing off. My son should get justice," she said.

If convicted, they may face up to one year in prison. However, a conviction under the Anti-Ragging Act also entails debarment from all educational institutions for a period of three years. Lekha and Babu alleged the case is being dragged because the accused are influential.

"Today, when Shaneed was assaulted, I got many messages from other parents. I called up my son and was discussing it when you called," said Lekha.