Shibpur: A first-year student of civil engineering at the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST), Shibpur, has alleged mental harassment by seniors during the rehearsal for a freshers' welcome programme.

The student has lodged a complaint on the anti-ragging portal of the University Grants Commission (UGC), prompting the institute to convene a meeting of its anti-ragging committee on Tuesday.

The convener of IIEST's anti-ragging committee, S.N. Dutta, said the meeting would probe the complaint, acting on the instructions of director Ajoy Kumar Ray.

Ray was unavailable for comment. Repeated calls to his mobile went unanswered. He did not reply to text messages either.

An institute official said the complaint was lodged on October 12, a day after the civil engineering department's freshers' welcome. The alleged incident took place during a rehearsal on October 9. "It has been alleged that the first-year student was asked to enact how to propose to another student. The student was forced to sing and dance and do squats," the official said.

A professor of the institute said the complainant has not disclosed identity. "The complaint does not even specify the gender of the complainant. We started a probe after the UGC forwarded a copy of the complaint," said the professor.

A professor said the first-year students were asked to depose before the head of the department or write to him but no one complained about ragging on being ragged.