The Central Bureau of Investigation has taken over the investigation into the death of 20-year-old veterinary student Sidharthan JS whose body was discovered hanging inside the bathroom of the college hostel in Wayanad district on February 18.
The victim's family accused fellow students, including activists of the CPI-M's students' outfit SFI of subjecting him to ragging and they demanded a CBI inquiry.
Accoridng to The Indian Express report, the victim was assaulted by seniors and his classmates for a stretch of 29 hours before he took his life.
Reportedly, Sub-inspector Prashobh PV of Vythiri police station has stated that the victim was "physically and mentally tortured" which drove him to 'die by suicide'.
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As per TIE, the police report read, "... They assaulted Sidharthan on February 16 from 9 am to 2 pm till February 17 continuously with hand and using a belt and subjected him to cruel ragging. This made him in an utter stage of mental stress and feeling that he can neither continue study in the Institute and complete this course nor go home dropping the course. As he is so mentally stressed, he felt that there is no option for him other than suicide, he committed suicide by hanging himself in the bathroom of men's hostel in between 12.30 pm and 13.45 pm on February 18."
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Police hands over the case to CBI
According to PTI, the probe agency re-registered the FIR filed at the Vythiri police station in Waynad against 20 people, shortly after receiving a notification from the central government.
The accused individuals have been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) related to criminal conspiracy, abetment to suicide, wrongful restraint, voluntarily causing hurt, and Kerala's anti-ragging law.
Officials stated that a CBI team, along with a forensics team, will soon visit the state. In the typical procedure, the CBI commences its probe in such cases referred by the state by re-registering the FIR filed by the local police. The findings, presented as a final report to a court upon completion of the probe, may diverge from the allegations in the FIR.
What did Kerala CM say?
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had assured a CBI probe on March 9 after a political uproar over the case.
Recently, the Kerala government suspended three employees of the Home Department, citing "dereliction and unresponsiveness" in providing documents and details to the Central Bureau of Investigation for the investigation.
The issue turned into a huge controversy with the Opposition Congress and the BJP alleging the state government was yet to hand over key files to the CBI weeks after the assurance.
What is the family of victim saying?
The family of the deceased student criticized the government, alleging deliberate delays in the CBI probe by withholding necessary files and destroying evidence.
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The victim's father, Jayaprakash, claimed that his son had been harassed for eight months before his death. He alleged that various senior SFI leaders were present at the college for several months, and his son was forced to strip and kneel. He expressed disbelief that senior SFI leaders were unaware of the situation.
"They were all aware of what was going on. They could have put an end to it back then. I cannot believe that the senior SFI leaders were unaware of what was happening there," he said.
The Congress-led UDF accused the Left government in Kerala and the police of attempting to shield those responsible for the student's death by prolonging the transfer of the case to the CBI.
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Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who is the candidate for the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), has promised to speed up the CBI investigation for the student's family.
