Death sparks campus outcry
A first‑year student’s death at Anjarakandy Dental College in Kerala has prompted public outcry and allegations of caste‑based mistreatment in classroom and faculty interactions, according to reporting shared on social channels. (x.com). The incident is fueling debate about campus climate and student safety at the institution.
The death of first-year dental student R.L. Nithin Raj at Anjarakandy Dental College on April 10 has triggered protests, police action and allegations of caste-based harassment on campus. (thehindu.com) Nithin Raj, 22, was from Uzhamalackal in Thiruvananthapuram and was studying Bachelor of Dental Surgery at the private college in Kannur district. Police said he died after a fall from a campus building and first registered an unnatural-death case. (indianexpress.com) His family said faculty members humiliated him over caste, skin colour and his parents’ work as daily wage labourers, and an audio clip said to be in his voice began circulating on social media on April 12. The Hindu reported that state police were examining the clip’s authenticity. (indianexpress.com, thehindu.com) By April 13, police had added abetment of suicide charges under Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and invoked the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Two faculty members, Dr. M.K. Ram and K.T. Sangeetha Nambiar, were booked. (indianexpress.com, onmanorama.com) Students escalated the pressure on April 13 by boycotting classes and outpatient services, wearing black badges and accusing teachers of insulting students over caste, appearance and skin colour. The Hindu said protesters also named the head of the Dental Anatomy department, M.K. Ram, as a repeat subject of complaints. (thehindu.com) The case has widened beyond one death because it has turned into a test of how colleges handle discrimination complaints and student welfare. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on April 14 that Kerala would not “forgive those who drove Nithin Raj to his death,” and linked the case to calls for an anti-discrimination law for higher education. (thehindu.com) Kerala University Vice-Chancellor Mohanan Kunnummal said action against the college could include cancellation of affiliation, according to The Hindu. That raised the stakes for the college’s management as the inquiry moved from campus discipline to possible institutional penalties. (thehindu.com) Investigators are also examining a second line of inquiry involving an online loan app. Police said Nithin had taken a loan through a mobile application, while his family said the money, about ₹18,000, was borrowed with their knowledge for his mother’s hospital treatment. (thehindu.com, onmanorama.com) On April 14, Onmanorama reported that a Special Investigation Team was probing a college meeting held on the day of Nithin’s death about that loan and alleged harassment tied to it. The family has said the loan issue should not be used to eclipse the caste-abuse allegations against faculty. (onmanorama.com, thehindu.com) The college suspended two faculty members pending inquiry, but the protests have not subsided. Four days after Nithin Raj’s death, the case had become a statewide argument over caste, colour bias and safety inside professional colleges in Kerala. (thehindu.com, onmanorama.com)
