A student in the US has died following a fraternity hazing ritual that is alleged to have involved being forced to drink alcohol.
Stone Foltz, 20, was pledging with the Pi Kappa Alpha's Delta Beta chapter at Bowling Green State University in Ohio earlier this month, when he took part in a hazing ritual.
He was found unconscious by his roommate on 4 March after he was allegedly forced into a drinking ritual while pledging.
Foltz, a sophomore business major, was taken to hospital and placed on life support, but tragically died three days later.
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Following his death, his family arranged for his organs to be donated.
The university has since charged Pi Kappa Alpha with violating six code of conduct rules and charged the fraternity with one count of 'hazing', four counts of 'offences against persons' and one count of 'offences disrupting order or disregarding health and safety', the Daily Mail reports.
Officials from the university have said they have reason to believe the new pledges were blindfolded, taken to a basement and encouraged to drink an entire bottle of alcohol each.
The fraternity has been placed on interim suspension and its Greek letters have been removed from its campus residence. The university said it would also be making decisions on 'the short- and long-term future of fraternity and sorority life at BGSU'.
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In a statement, the university said: "Hazing is absolutely intolerable. BGSU continues to work with local law enforcement, who are actively leading their own investigation into this serious situation.
"While these University charges don't bring back student Stone Foltz, our goal is to hold those accountable who are responsible for this tragedy.
"Today's charges are another step in the ongoing investigation concerning the fraternity... The conduct processes involving individual students also remains ongoing."
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Foltz's heartbroken mother Shari Foltz wants punishments for individuals involved in the ritual.
She told Good Morning America: "There needs to be harsher punishments.
"You get a slap on the hand for basically doing these things and killing someone. If it's a felony, don't you think they're going to think twice before doing something like this?"
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His dad Cory added: "Shut everything down and make the fraternity show that they have a zero-tolerance and there's guidelines you need to follow.
"Every day that goes by, there's a chance there could be another Stone Foltz out there."
Describing the devastation of losing her son, Shari said: "I can't describe the pain - there's a piece of my heart that's gone.
"It's just unimaginable, I can't even explain to you."
Featured Image Credit: Good Morning AmericaTopics: US News