Kottayam (Kerala) | The police on Friday filed a chargesheet against five students of the Government College of Nursing here who are accused of brutally ragging some of their juniors over a period of several months.

The chargesheet was filed at the Ettumanoor Magistrate Court here.

Police said that the court inspected the chargesheet and accepted it.

Police said that there are only five accused in the case -- Samuel Johnson (20), Rahul Raj (22), Jeev (18), Rijil Jith (20) and Vivek (21) -- whose arrests were recorded on February 12.

It said that a thorough probe was carried out in the case, which has 40 witnesses, and that 32 documents have been included in the chargesheet.

The police said that it has mentioned in the chargesheet that the accused celebrated and rejoiced as they recorded videos of the ragging and the victims writhing in pain.

The video recording of the ragging by the accused, who are also regular drug users, was the crucial evidence in the case, police added.

It also said that more evidence about ragging was recovered from the mobile phones of the accused.

The police said in the chargesheet that the hostel and college authorities were not aware of the ragging.

It also said that the accused had been harassing the victims since November last year and used to constantly take money from them for buying alcohol.

What was happening in the nursing college came out in February after disturbing visuals of the brutal ragging of a junior student at the college surfaced on social media. It showed the victim being tied to a cot and repeatedly pierced with a compass.

The video also showed that the victim was stripped half-naked and subjected to horrifying acts, including having dumbbells placed on his private parts after being tied to a cot and having facial cream poured into his mouth.

All five accused students have been dismissed from the college.

They were arrested after a case was registered under the Prohibition of Ragging Act, following a complaint that ragging had been ongoing for nearly three months at the nursing college, which operates under the Government Medical College.

The arrested students are currently in the district jail.