Ragging: Harmless teasing or deadly abuse?

India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines have all passed anti-ragging legislation. Pakistan does not have any such laws.

“Strip.” That is the command young Gaurav Singhal was given by his seniors at Indian university in 1998. Gaurav was an introvert, he kept to himself and entered university with the singular goal of pursuing a higher education. Little did he know the next few years of his life would be made hell by his seniors, through ragging that included mental and sexual abuse.

Two years after Gaurav graduated, he was moved by the story of Aman Kachroo, a medical student who was beaten to death by his seniors in the name of ragging.

Today, Gaurav is the vice president of SAVE (Society against violence in education), one of India’s largest anti-ragging NGOs.

As of now, India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines, have all passed anti-ragging legislation. Even though laws such as The Islamabad Capital Territory Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Act, which prohibits corporal punishment of children have been signed, Pakistan does not have any such laws banning ragging, despite ragging being a prevalent issue.

What is ragging?

According to Gaurav, ragging is “any act which makes any junior or fresher, uncomfortable, be it physical, extortion, sexual, or any kind of mental ragging.”

Numayan Javed, a clinical psychologist and private practitioner whose work centers around trauma, attachment healing, the cycle of abuse, and the power dynamics that underpin harassment, abuse, and control, elaborates on this definition. She calls ragging, “a socially sanctioned form of power abuse that’s often normalised as tradition. Behind the jokes or ‘fun,’ it’s really about control, about breaking someone down to assert dominance.”

The term “ragging” is specific to the bullying disguised as initiation rituals in South Asian countries and is unlike the hazing found in the West.

Hazing is different to ragging because it primarily takes place in fraternities and sororities, groups that students can opt out of joining and is not campus wide.

“There’s some kind of liberty on whether you go to the sororities or not. The problems in the US are different from the problems we face in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka,” says SAVE founder and president Dr. Kushal Banerjee. Numayan also adds that ragging is set apart from bullying because it is accepted as a norm and may even be encouraged by institutions, rather than being prohibited or frowned upon. “It tells the victim that not only is this happening to you, but the people meant to protect you are okay with it. That kind of silence from the system can be just as loud as the act itself. It makes healing harder because the trust you lose isn’t just in a person. It’s in the space around you,” she says.

M, an 18-year-old student from the 2024 batch at COMSATS University Islamabad who wishes to remain anonymous, speaks about the ragging he witnessed. “In the name of ragging they performed a lot of cruelty towards the juniors,” he says about his seniors. “They made two juniors lay down and touch their genitals to each other’s, they made another guy dance naked, got another drunk, forced another to masturbate in front of us, and covered one in shoe polish,” he adds. “I had to bear with it for like 4 months. Some of the worst things I faced included getting naked in front of a group, just wearing a shopping bag and going to the canteen,” says 24-year-old Ayaan from Nishtar Medical University, in Multan.

Ragging can also have monetary motivation in some cases, Dr. Banerjee explains. “They exploit money. And this monetary benefit is also directly or indirectly benefiting the people in charge of the hostel, like wardens or the administration,” he says.

Numayan speaks about the psychology behind the prevalence of ragging in Pakistan. According to her, ragging persists in Pakistan because it reflects the broader social fabric, “one that’s built on rigid hierarchies, deference to authority, and generational cycles of control.” “From households to classrooms, many young people grow up internalizing the idea that power must be asserted, not questioned,” she says. She elaborates on how these pre-existing systems result in seniors who seek to regain some semblance of power and control through ragging their juniors after having felt powerless in their personal lives. “It’s less about connection, and more about reenacting dominance to secure their place in a system that doesn’t always offer emotional safety or validation,” she says.

Ragging and mental health

Aside from the physical and financial aftermath and losses caused by ragging, student mental health is what is truly at risk here. “It was disturbing for me, and affected me psychologically,” says Ayaan. Another student, Akshay, who recently graduated from a medical university in a small city in Pakistan, also speaks on how detrimental ragging can be to student mental health. “When my brother first went to university in Karachi, he called my father on the second day, complaining about the ragging in the hostel and saying he couldn’t live there. He was very distressed during the call and took himself to the hospital for severe anxiety. That experience really affected him,” he says. Akshay also described an incident during his third year at university when he witnessed a student who had been so traumatized by ragging, he attempted suicide by jumping in front of a moving truck.

According to Numayan, ragging can have long-term, profound effects on a student’s mental health. “Victims often experience anxiety, depression, and feelings of worthlessness. It can leave them feeling isolated and unsafe in their environment, leading to a loss of confidence and trust in others,” she says.

She talks about how even what some may call “minor” forms of ragging such as verbal and psychological ragging can leave a mark on students, even if they themselves do not classify it as ragging.

“When students don’t recognise certain behaviors as harmful, they often absorb them quietly - thinking it’s just part of fitting in or something they’re supposed to laugh off. That silence can be heavy. It builds shame, confusion, and self-doubt,” she says.

She further elaborates on this, talking about how “trauma does not come with a measuring tape,” and how the same thing that may not affect one person may leave a deep and lasting emotional wound in another because of how it lands on their nervous system. “So yes, even the seemingly small stuff matters. Especially when no one’s calling it what it really is,” she adds.

Numayan elaborates on how different types of ragging can have different impacts on victim’s psyche. Verbal and psychological ragging can lead to feelings of shame and inadequacy and physical ragging can lead to fear for one’s safety and autonomy. “Sexual ragging, however, is a violation at the most intimate level. It can trigger profound psychological damage, causing victims to dissociate from their own bodies, feel shattered in their sense of identity, and experience long-term emotional scars, such as trust issues, intimacy fears, or PTSD,” she adds.

Ragging can have a profound and long-term effect on victims’ self-esteem. According to sociologist William James, self-esteem is rooted in the perceived success of our social interactions and how valued we feel by others. When a person is subjected to ragging, particularly through verbal or physical humiliation, their sense of belonging and social value is compromised. “This can lead to a diminished sense of self-worth, where the victim internalizes the abuse as a reflection of their own inadequacy. Over time, the constant devaluation can manifest in feelings of helplessness, worthlessness, and self-doubt,” says Numayan. The more deeply these messages are internalized, the more they can distort how victims perceive themselves in social contexts, making it harder for them to feel deserving of respect, love, and success.” Numayan elaborates on this phenomenon regarding ragging that involves students to violate their personal boundaries in search of validation, be it by force or by students opting for said ragging.

“Over time, this can distort their sense of self-worth, as their identity becomes tied to group approval. The pressure to be ‘cool’ leads to cognitive dissonance, where their actions clash with their true values,” says Numayan.

Ragging may have different effects on people depending on their gender and how they were socialised because of it.

According to Numayan, men may struggle with expressing their emotions, leading to repressed anger, anxiety and depression as they try to “tough it out,” while women may experience more internalized guilt, shame and issues with self-worth. “Gender non-conforming students may feel even more isolated, with their trauma compounded by a society that already marginalizes them,” she adds.

All this trauma does not stay contained inside victims. More often than not it leads to their personal lives, relationships and even their academic performance suffering. “Chronic stress and anxiety disrupt concentration, memory retention, and executive functioning. This makes it harder to absorb new information or complete assignments. Many victims experience sleep disturbances or hypervigilance, both of which impair cognitive performance,” says Numayan.

Ragging doesn’t just impact the mental health of the victims but also of the perpetrators. Although they may not feel it at the time, the perpetrators may later recognise the impact of their actions and be stuck in a cycle of self-blame, guilt and self-loathing.

“Ragging isn't just a one-way cycle of victimisation; it can perpetuate its own form of trauma for the abuser, often creating a vicious cycle where both the victim and the perpetrator are caught in their own emotional struggles,” says Numayan.

Power dynamics between juniors and seniors

The long-ingrained power imbalance between juniors and their seniors is one of the few things that sets ragging apart from run of the mill harassment. “The power difference between seniors and juniors is very toxic,” says Akshay, recalling a fight between freshman and their seniors at his university that resulted in the police being called and students ending up in the hospital.

Dr. Banerjee believes universities themselves are responsible for establishing this power dynamic. He gives the example of a reputable engineering university he visited, where the Dean of student affairs ended the session by telling the juniors to seek guidance from their seniors, warning them that it would be difficult to pass otherwise. Dr. Banerjee took this moment to interrupt the dean, saying, “do you think that your senior students are more capable than the professors? It is the responsibility of the teachers to guide the students, not the responsibility of the seniors.”

Dr. Banerjee cites the Stanford prison experiment as an example for how this power imbalance is created when institutions give seniors power over their juniors and how quickly it can be abused. The Stanford prison experiment was a psychological experiment performed in 1971 where a group of students was divided in half and each half was told to act as prisoners and prison guards respectively. During the following days, the “guards,” despite knowing they were simply acting, began to abuse their power and torment the prisoners. Although the validity of this experiment has been called into question, the picture it paints as an example for the abuse of power taking place in ragging is a vivid and dark one.

Many victims and witnesses of ragging often are not anti-ragging because they claim it made them more confident and helped them befriend their seniors. Ayaan says he thinks the power imbalance between juniors and seniors is a good thing to have, “because we have hierarchy even in professional lives,” he says. “After going through all that, I felt more confident, and it felt easier for me to talk to people. Ironic but true. The seniors who ragged me helped me the most in my later years, so I don't want to file a case against them,” he adds.

Ayaan’s experience is not uncommon. “Ragging can become normalised to the point where victims don’t even recognise it as abuse,” says Numayan. She explains how claiming to have enjoyed being ragged may be a defense mechanism and survival strategy. “When the mind doesn’t have the resources to fully process the pain of abuse, it may reframe the experience to make it seem less harmful. Because to admit the truth would mean confronting uncomfortable feelings of powerlessness or shame,” she says.

Some victims may even go as far as to befriend those that ragged them in an unconscious need to make sense of the hurt. “Attachment theory suggests that humans are wired for connection, and when someone who has caused pain is also the one offering attention or validation, it creates a confusing emotional pull,” says Numayan. “This dynamic can resemble Stockholm Syndrome, where the victim begins to develop a bond with the abuser as a way of coping. By befriending the abuser, the victim might subconsciously try to feel safer or less vulnerable, even though it’s a distorted form of attachment,” she adds, explaining how victims may become trauma-bonded to their abusers.

Dr. Banerjee comments on how ragging is not needed to familiarize oneself with their juniors, adding, “when a new neighbor comes to your neighborhood, do you ask him or her to sing? Do you ask him or her to dance? If your younger brother is not smart enough, do you subject him physical or sexual abuse? If you don't need this kind of violence on your younger brothers or your neighbors to get to know each other, to be good friends, to be good guides, why do you need these things only in college?”

Dr. Banerjee talks about how ragging making people tougher or more confident is a myth. “If you want to make good rapport, you will be loving people. You won't be hurting people. Like, nobody loves Hitler. Nobody respects Hitler. Respect is earned through mutual respect,” he says.

Why we need anti-ragging laws

Although anti-ragging legislation in countries such as India are not one hundred percent effective or implemented, such legislation is a step in the right direction. The reason some of our fellow Asian countries have anti-ragging legislation and why Pakistan is in dire need of it too is because ragging is a fundamentally different experience from regular harassment or abuse.

According to Gaurav, this is because in the case of most other crimes, the victim and perpetrator are not forced to live together for the next 4 years. The abuser is often not put on a pedestal by an institution nor given the luxury of easy and constant access to their victims. These surrounding conditions are what make the victim more scared and hesitant to report these crimes committed against them.

Gaurav highlights the importance of anti-ragging legislation because it is accompanied by anti-ragging helplines. “That’s why it’s a very good thing that the anti-ragging helpline in India allows anonymous complaints. In no other case in India, be it murder or looting, is anonymous complaint allowed. For example, in Aman Kachroo’s case, he was severely ragged, and he dared to go to the college authorities and the day he reported, the same night he was murdered by his seniors,” he says. Anti-ragging helplines and organizations also search social media for anonymous complaints and act within minutes to contact the institution mentioned. “As soon as any person calls on the helpline within half an hour the help emails and calls the authorities of the college as well as local police. This creates a lot of pressure on the institution to act,” Gaurav adds.

Dr. Banerjee highlights the importance of anti-ragging laws by emphasizing the need for penal provisions for institutions if they fail to act as the primary responsibility of curbing ragging lies with the universities. “The students are in your custody. You are the local guard. So, it's your responsibility to protect the students. Both perpetrators and victims are inside your campus,” he says.

Aroon Parsad is an Advocate of the High Court, Chairman of the Young Lawyers Forum Pakistan, chief patron of Qanoonkibaat, and has been working on student rights, harassment cases, and education for the past few years. According to him, good anti-ragging laws cover two things: preventing ragging and dealing with it when it happens. “That means setting up proper complaint systems, punishing those involved, supporting victims, and making sure institutions actually do their job instead of brushing it under the rug, " he says.

Advocate Aroon also says that ragging needs its own separate legislation from assault or harassment because of its specific nature to campuses, reiterating how despite being student-on-student it is about the power imbalance between juniors and seniors. “Institutions aren’t always motivated to take action unless the law requires them to. These laws also make it clear that ragging isn’t just a joke. It’s abuse,” Aroon says.

The lack of anti-ragging laws also makes it difficult for mental health professionals to do their job. “Without clear legal frameworks, we are left navigating informal and often inconsistent policies that fail to offer concrete support for victims. This lack of legal protection makes it difficult to advocate for lasting institutional change and places an additional burden on us to fill the gaps,” says Numayan.

Numayan also talks about the impact on students’ mental health to see that their abusers are not facing any consequences. “When there are no legal consequences for the perpetrators, it not only perpetuates the power imbalance but also reinforces the trauma, making it harder for survivors to heal and for us to help them break free from the cycle. This subtly communicates a powerful, damaging message: ‘Your pain doesn’t matter.’” she adds. She talks about how this sense of betrayal and abandonment from the system that was supposed to protect them can be just as harmful as the abuse itself as it reinforces feelings of worthlessness and helplessness. “It creates a culture of silence, where victims internalize the shame and self-blame, withdrawing from support and suffering in isolation,” Numayan says.

What can we do right now?

Despite there not being any laws to tackle ragging in the country at the moment, there is still a lot Pakistanis can do to curb the age-old practice. When Dr. Banerjee founded SAVE in India, there had been no such laws there. He pushes for activists in Pakistan to start working on this issue regardless of legislation, saying, “if they start working on this, they can also demand for these laws and regulations. They can also seek help from the Pakistani Supreme Court.”

Dr. Banerjee says the most important things right now are changing the mindset of the people and raising awareness. Students need to be taught which sections of the law as of now can protect them, which human rights organizations can help them, and how to file complaints, while teachers need to be taught how to spot ragging and set up anti-ragging committees. He also says that CCTV cameras in all public places and separate housing for seniors and freshmen are necessary, along with a mobile anti-ragging squad made up of guards whose numbers can be given to students.

“There should also be an anonymous survey. Because if someone speaks out, he or she will be ragged by the seniors. But if that is anonymous, then you will get the data where ragging is taking place and how it is occurring,” Dr. Banerjee says. He also insists that students must unite to pressure their institutions and governments to take action. Gaurav adds to this, saying, “I think it’s high time activists, students and media in Pakistan start an online campaign and petition to force the government to enact anti-ragging law and to establish an anti-ragging helpline.”

Advocate Aroon further emphasizes the need for awareness in a timely manner. “I worked on a case where a student in his first semester was emotionally abused for weeks. The university didn’t take it seriously until the media got involved. Even though we got some action, the damage was done. He left the program. That’s what stuck with me how late the support came,” he says. “Students have died by suicide. It’s sad that it takes tragedy to get attention, but that’s often the reality,” he adds.

Advocate Aroon also talks about how ragging needs to stop being normalized as a rite of passage and how the media can play a hand in stopping this. “Institutions don't want bad press. Media can raise awareness and hold institutions accountable,” he says. “Student groups can create safe spaces, share survivor stories, and push for policy changes. When students lead the conversation, it becomes real. It’s not just theory, it’s lived experience,” he adds.

Advocate Aroon also wants students to know those abusing them can still be taken to court despite the lack of anti-ragging legislation. He also talks about how anti-ragging cells within universities need proper training. “Some are great, but many are just there for show. They look good in brochures but don’t do much when a real complaint comes in. They need trained staff, transparency, and independence from the people they might need to investigate,” he says. “Students need to know someone’s actually paying attention,” he adds.

Advocate Aroon hopes that pressure from students, activists and the media will eventually push the government to take action and pass anti-ragging legislation. He says we can have anti ragging laws “only if people push for it. If students start speaking out, if the media starts covering it more, if civil society gets involved, then yes. But it needs momentum. A law won’t come out of nowhere; it needs a push from the ground up.”

“If someone files a strong petition, it could change everything,” he concludes.