• One marshal for 8,500+ students at Sabaragamuwa Uni

Twenty-three-year-old Charith Dilshan, a Sabaragamuwa University undergraduate, took his own life on 29 April. Several students are in remand prison in connection with the physical and psychological abuse the youth underwent before making the decision to end his own life. 

In 1975, in order to avoid abuse, Rupa Rathnaseeli of the University of Peradeniya leapt off the second floor of the university’s Ramanathan Hall, a move that left her paralysed until her ultimate decision to end her life years later.

In the last 50 years, ragging, harassment, and abuse in institutions of higher education have led to a number of student deaths and permanent disability. 

Despite efforts such as the enactment of the Prohibition of Ragging and Other Forms of Violence in Educational Institutions Act No.20 of 1998, popularly referred to as the Anti-Ragging Act, students in universities continue to endure harassment and abuse at the hands of other students. 

Systemic issues at Sabaragamuwa

In the instance of Dilshan’s death, the reported incident of violence is currently being investigated by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), a committee appointed by the University Grants Commission (UGC), and a three-member committee appointed by the Vice Chancellor of the Sabaragamuwa University.

Speaking to The Sunday Morning, UGC Secretary Dr. Priyantha Premakumara said that with regard to ongoing discussions on the topic of ragging at universities, no decisions had been made yet. 

“We have appointed a committee. We have to wait for the recommendations to be made to the UGC on this matter,” he said.

Reports on social media allege that Dilshan, a second-year student, was harassed and abused by senior students for wearing shorts inside a hostel. 

In 2023, the university had 8,854 internal students in its undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. However, Sabaragamuwa University Teachers’ Association (SUTA) President Dr. Leon Fernando told The Sunday Morning that the university only had one marshal in the relevant unit despite having cadre positions for six. 

University marshals are non-academic staff members empowered to maintain student discipline within the university premises. 

While the cadre positions remain for a full unit, Dr. Fernando said that the university did not have permission from the Department of Management Services (DMS) to fill them. “One marshal cannot resolve all the issues among students,” he said.

The SUTA has submitted a list of proposals to the university administration, including the establishment of a marshal unit comprising trained and qualified personnel. 

Among the other proposals are to install CCTV systems in key student congregation areas, to impose a policy to restrict all non-essential student activities beyond 10 p.m., to seek legal guidance to evaluate the feasibility of sending disciplinary notice copies not only to parents but also to relevant local authorities, and to reassess the roles and responsibilities of sub-wardens. 

However, the SUTA President emphasised that these proposals were only at a discussion stage, adding that some proposals had been made due to a shortage of manpower to keep watch over student safety. 

Meanwhile, university lecturers have called for an impartial and transparent investigation into the abuse faced by Dilshan. The Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) endorsed the proposals of its sister union, said FUTA President Dr. Anuruddha Karunarathna, speaking to The Sunday Morning. 

“We endorse the proposals made by the Sabaragamuwa teachers’ union. In other universities, we have well-established mechanisms to curb ragging,” he said. 

Stating that FUTA supported academics in acting independently within universities, Dr. Karunarathna said that, as those who valued freedom of speech, lecturers would intervene when students’ freedoms and political rights were restricted.

Implementation of the law and need for strict action

As one of its proposals, SUTA has called for the enforcement of strict disciplinary measures and decisive action against any student found guilty of misconduct or criminal behaviour, maintaining zero tolerance for student-related violence or intimidation.

SUTA President Dr. Fernando claimed that the university staff tended to be lenient in the implementation of disciplinary measures.  

“Sometimes because the staff is too humane, they tend to give [second] chances and not be particularly strict in their disciplinary measures. However, we have now come to a decision to be strict when it comes to discipline,” he said.

In October 2024, The Sunday Morning reported that the Attorney General’s Department had submitted a series of draft guidelines to support the enforcement of existing laws such as the Anti-Ragging Act. These guidelines were intended to reinforce existing UGC disciplinary procedures and emphasise strict disciplinary action against staff for failing to act.

Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Rage.lk Co-Founder and Attorney-at-Law Yasu-e Karunaratne, an anti-ragging activist, said that while the existing law was strong and covered a wide range of possibilities in ragging, it was not a deterrent as the act was not being utilised adequately. 

“The act covers quite a bit of ground but the pitfalls are in non-compliance. When an act is not used, no one is scared,” she said. 

She alleged that when the Police filed complaints regarding incidents of ragging, assault, and mental abuse, the Anti-Ragging Act was not utilised, making it difficult to track the number of cases. Rage.lk provides pro bono legal advice to victims of ragging in universities. 

Ragging, violence, inequality within educational institutions

Referring to the death of the student from the Sabaragamuwa University, Minister of Foreign Affairs Vijitha Herath told media that there was a question of whether the incident was a matter of ragging. 

“This was a second-year student. Third-year students have been arrested in connection with the incident. As we know, second-year students are not ragged in universities; these students are the ones who subject first-year students to ragging,” he said. 

Ragging in the Sri Lankan university context is a phenomenon whereby senior students compel junior students to obey a code of conduct prescribed by them, with claims of ‘equalising’ students who come from different backgrounds. 

However, since the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic crisis changed patterns in admission with increased online learning, the traditional order of ragging new entrants has changed, altering the shape of the violence. 

FUTA President Dr. Karunarathna noted that ragging was not well organised like it used to be decades ago.  

“Ragging is happening within the same batch. This is not typical. This is something else and we are trying to understand what this something else is,” he said. 

The ragging that existed years ago had been replaced by increasingly physical violence, Socialist Students’ Union (SSU) National Organiser Rangana Lakmal Dewapriya told The Sunday Morning. 

“What used to be a physical rag that lasted hours has been replaced with a five-minute physical attack,” he shared.  

Condemning ragging and violence within universities, Dewapriya said that the State and university administrations should launch an action plan to counter violence while taking simultaneous legal action. 

“As a group that supported this Government, we say that the administration and the State needs to develop an action plan to stop ragging,” he asserted. 

Ragging and other acts of violence that happen within universities are a part of the same power structure established within these institutions of higher education, according to anti-ragging activist Prabuddha Dikwaththa, who is a graduate of the University of Kelaniya. 

Dikwaththa was a founding member of the anti-violence group Unknown Collective (Naandunana Samuhikaya) formed in 2017 and based in the University of Kelaniya. The group consists of former students, staff members, students of other universities, and activists outside the university who opposed ragging. 

“Our stance was against ragging and all forms of violence inside the university,” he said, explaining the possibility that violence could arise from the side of the staff and administration as well. 

They had held protests and distributed leaflets inside the university as a form of direct nonviolent action to share their message. This action had been carried out in areas where ragging rituals were being carried out on first-year students. 

Recalling his experience as an undergraduate, Dikwaththa noted that a member of his group had been physically attacked by a member of the student union. 

“Our philosophy was a society of equals,” he said, noting that the university administration relied on senior students and the system of ragging for maintaining control over students. 

“When new students enter a university, the seniors are relied upon for various things like finding accommodation when there are no hostel facilities. The administration relies on seniors giving new entrants this support.”

He added that the manner in which ragging and violence were perpetrated in each university was different.  

“In universities located in remote, secluded areas, medical officers and the Police wield a lot of power. When students approach them for help in cases of abuse, they sometimes dismiss complaints as they feel ragging is not a serious issue,” he alleged, adding that when this happened, the isolated nature of the locations made it difficult for students to seek help elsewhere. 

In an essay titled ‘Oba Vishwa Vidyalayakata Piwisa Atha’ (You have entered a university), University of Peradeniya scholar and playwright, the late Ediriweera Sarachchandra said that the university was a space of equality. “If equality exists somewhere as the prime goal, that is in the space of the university.” 

Sarachchandra rejected the traditional hierarchised teacher-student relationship and asserted that the university was a space where the academic community sought knowledge together as equals.