Abstract
Only last year seven students from medical colleges were suspended for alleged ragging
bordering on sexual harassment. Teasing, ducking and ragging in medical colleges is
becoming a serious problem in professional institutes.1 “Teasing” is defined as the
mildest form of harassment, irritation or provocation, characterized by persistent petty
distractions. “Ducking” may be more severe, and chiefly involves some one having to
perform humiliating imitations of animal behavior. “Ragging” is the most severe of the
three initiations practices, and it is no accident that it was introduced into subcontinent by
the first Sandhurst (a British Military School) recruits to arrive in the country. Although it
began mildly enough, it helped relax the new students in an alien atmosphere and helped
them form friendships, however it soon evolved into highly torturous practices. Its
imposition on new students became established in medical colleges as the right and
privilege of the senior students and as necessary punishment for the new ones, who at the
same time were granted concessions and protection by their seniors.

Key words: Ragging, Harassment, Ducking, Stripping.