Cong demands CBI inquiry into Kerala varsity student’s death
The state police, which had initially registered a case of unnatural death, booked 12 students — the number later increased to 18 — for various offences, following the autopsy report and a complaint from the deceased’s family
The opposition Congress in Kerala on Sunday asked the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government to hand over the probe into the recent death of a 20-year-old student at a veterinary college in Wayanad allegedly due to ragging and assault to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), citing deficiencies in the ongoing police probe.
Leader of the Opposition in state assembly VD Satheesan wrote a letter to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, stating that the news of the death of a second-year undergraduate student at the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences in Pookode, and the details of the torture and assault he underwent in the institute had spread fear and concern in the minds of parents in the state.
The student, a resident of Thiruvananthapuram district, was found dead in the washroom of the college hostel on February 18 and subsequently the autopsy report pointed to several injuries on his body and indicated he was denied food for nearly three days. His parents, citing information from his batchmates, have claimed that he was paraded naked in the hostel premises and beaten mercilessly by students belonging to the Students Federation of India (SFI) unit in the college leading to his death. SFI is the student wing of the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M).
“When his parents repeated continuously through the media that he was killed by SFI leaders at the college, the investigating officers said that there were no political links. The CPI(M) leaders in the district have threatened the investigating officers and are trying to protect the accused,” Satheesan wrote in his letter to the CM. “The postmortem report is evidence of the brutal assault and cruelty he endured. Despite the evidence, there were lapses in the police probe.”
Demanding that the probe in the case be handed over to CBI, he added: “The police tried to protect the accused. Therefore, a truthful investigation cannot be expected from the police.”
The state police, which had initially registered a case of unnatural death, booked 12 students — the number later increased to 18 — for various offences, following the autopsy report and a complaint from the deceased’s family.
A special investigation team (SIT) of the Kerala Police, probing the case, has arrested all the 18 accused in the case, including chairman, secretary and members of the SFI-led college union and charged them with abetment to suicide, wrongful restraint and voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means among other offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as relevant sections of the Kerala Prohibition of Ragging Act.
Sinjo Johnson, who allegedly assaulted the 20-year-old the most, was taken to the hostel premises on Sunday as part of evidence gathering, a senior police officer said.
Dean, assistant warden suspended
Meanwhile, Kerala minister J Chinchu Rani on Sunday ordered the suspension of the dean of the college and the assistant warden of the hostel for “grave lapses” on their part in preventing the death of the student. It came a day after Prof MR Saseendranath, the vice-chancellor of Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University in Wayanad, was suspended by state’s governor Arif Mohammed Khan.
“The dean and the assistant warden are in charge of the hostel at the institute. They have the responsibility to keep an eye on what’s happening inside the hostel. As per the report given by the vice chancellor, there were grave lapses on their part. But then the vice chancellor was suspended by the Governor, who is the chancellor. So, I have asked the new VC to suspend both officials till the inquiry is completed,” Rani, the minister for animal husbandry and dairy development, said.
She added that steps were being taken to install CCTV cameras in the hostel premises to prevent such incidents in the future.
MK Narayanan, the dean of the college, told reporters on Sunday that he was not responsible for the student’s death. “I did not learn about the assault nor was I informed about it. It was not reported to us. Then how can I take action? The dean is the hostel warden, but it’s a ceremonial title. The warden or the assistant warden do not reside in the hostel,” he added.
