The AP government swore to punish the guilty in Rishiteshwari's suicide in the Guntur district after ragging, and stop the inhuman practice in colleges.
Reacting to the Opposition YSR Congress Party's criticism that the Andhra Pradesh government had failed to resolve the incident of student Rishiteshwari's suicide in the Guntur district after ragging that rattled the State, Home Minister Chinarajappa said that the government was firm upon punishing the guilty.
The minister said that investigation was going on in the case, and 87 witnesses had been quizzed. The government would take action against the Principal Babu Rao if his role was proved in the case, he said.
"Besides transferring the Principal and the Vice-Chancellor of the university, we have given Transfer Certificates (TCs) to the students involved and put them in a blacklist preventing them from studying anywhere else, following Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's directive," he said.
Counselling would be conducted to prevent the recurrence of such incidents, he added.
Human Resources Development Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao said that the government would take stringent action against the culprits to ensure that no student dared even utter the "ragging" word in future.
The government, he said, was committed to initiating serious action against the erring officials and students, and stop the inhuman practice in educational institutions.