CBI books 20 in probe into Kerala student’s death; family blames SFI cadre

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken over the investigation into the death of a 20-year-old veterinary student, who was found hanging inside the bathroom of the college hostel in Kerala’s Wayanad district on February 18. Sidharthan JS was allegedly ragged by fellow students, including activists of ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) students’ outfit Student’s Federation of India (SFI), as alleged by his family. According to a PTI report, the CBI re-registered an FIR at the Vythiri police station in Wayanad against 20 people on Friday. The accused have been booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections related to criminal conspiracy, abetment to suicide, wrongful restraint, voluntarily causing hurt and Kerala’s anti-ragging law.
A CBI team will visit the state soon with a forensics team, the officials said.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had assured a CBI probe on March 9 after political uproar.
According to an Indian Express report, Sidharthan was a second-year student at the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences in Wayanad. As per the case file documents, Vythiri police station sub-inspector Prashobh PV had written that Sidharthan’s seniors and peers physically and mentally tortured him, forcing him to take the extreme step. As per the police official, Sidharthan was allegedly assaulted on February 16 from 9 am to 2 pm till February 17 continuously using a belt and was subjected to cruel ragging. According to the sub-inspector said that the student was in utter mental stress and was under feeling that he can neither continue his studies at the institute and complete the 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 bath room of men’s hostel in between 12.30 pm and 13.45 pm on February 18,” the Express report quoted the case document.