The hazing allegations that led to a suspension of all fraternities’ recruitment efforts and drinking events at the University of Maryland this month included reports of students being forced to consume urine and other degrading acts, according to documents in an ongoing court case.

A federal court filing from the Maryland Attorney General’s Office narrates a disturbing run of incidents that were reported to U-Md. officials in the days before they imposed a blanket ban on all Greek-life recruitment activities and events with alcohol beginning March 1. That broad prohibition, which also included several sororities, was lifted Friday, though five fraternities remain under investigation and still face restrictions, the university said.

According to documents filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, one parent complained that her son was treated last month for suspected hypothermia after being required by one fraternity “to stay outside in the cold for several hours.” The parent also said students were “scrubbing floors until 2:30 am” and cleaning individual members’ off-campus residences. Another parent complained that a different fraternity was “locking new members in the basement and breaking glass on the floor for the new members to clean up.”

In the most graphic report, a student complained anonymously to school officials that he was abused for five hours in what’s known as a “line up.”

“They force you to wall sit, do push ups, plank, intentionally harm oneself, be naked/in underwear for the purpose of public humiliation, and be physically assaulted,” the student said in the complaint. “At one of these events one individual passed out as they refused to provide us with water and forced us to drink straight vodka and they did nothing to help him, in fact they hit him in the face with a plastic bat and poured beer on him until he woke up.”

The student painted a picture of widespread hazing across several U-Md. fraternities, with recruits “being beaten with a paddle; being burned with cigarettes and torches; having to lay on nails; being forced to consume things that are not food (an alive fish, chewing tobacco, urine); being spit on; and being forced to clean chapter members’ residences,” according to the Maryland Attorney General’s Office, which is representing U-Md. officials in court.

University administrators have not identified the fraternities where the specific hazing incidents they described were alleged to have happened, citing the need for confidentiality in their ongoing investigation. Officials included data in their legal filing showing a jump in fraternity members’ visits to the U-Md. counseling and health centers in February.

Spokespeople for the university and the state attorney general’s office declined to comment.

Four fraternities sued the university in federal court this month, claiming that administrators were violating students’ constitutional rights with an overbroad prohibition that applied to all Greek-life organizations instead of targeting the specific individuals and fraternity chapters accused of hazing. No criminal charges have been filed in connection with the alleged hazing incidents.

“The University of Maryland has punished every single member and new member of certain categories of fraternities and sororities,” the fraternities’ lawsuit says. A court hearing was scheduled for Monday, but it was canceled after the university on Friday lifted the blanket ban on all Greek-life organizations recruiting members or serving alcohol.

A spokesperson for the four fraternities said none of them was connected to the incidents the attorney general’s office laid out in graphic detail to justify the university’s ban.

“The very disturbing allegations in the University of Maryland’s response to our lawsuit are not in any way connected to the plaintiffs of this case,” said Wynn Smiley, a spokesman for the Fraternity Forward Coalition. “In fact, the university was aware of these troubling claims prior to launching their dragnet investigation, and instead of working with national organizations and student leaders to investigate the individuals suspected of these wrongdoings, administrators chose to violate their own administrative procedures and the law by violating the civil liberties of thousands of students.”

U-Md. officials said in an online post that they initially decided to suspend recruitment and alcohol consumption at all fraternities and sororities “based on the serious nature and frequency of the concerning reports and data we received, which did not always pinpoint specific fraternities or sororities, but rather highlighted broader issues.”

Preliminary findings from a team of outside investigators hired by the university indicated that one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Kappa Alpha Order, is among the five fraternities suspected of hazing, “including requiring tasks/errands of prospective new members, alcohol distribution to individuals under the legal drinking age, and high risk drinking behaviors,” according to the attorney general’s court filing.

A Kappa Alpha Order representative, Jesse S. Lyons, conceded that “some of the above may be true, for instance requests to pick up a fast food order and do some dishes. It is also possible that a new member under age was seen ‘shot-gunning a beer.’”

“These things are indeed inappropriate,” Lyons said. “Regardless, the university’s stated allegations fall extremely short of the sensational acts reported in the court brief, and remain unproven.”