Odisha hostel student murdered over spilled dal: Police
His family later staged a demonstration with the body outside the Keonjhar Collectorate, alleging that the institute authorities concealed facts.
The Commissionerate Police in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday claimed that the class IX student at the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) in Bhubaneswar was strangulated to death by three of his classmates over spilled dal.
The student from Tikargumura village in Keonjhar Town, died on Friday under mysterious circumstances after being admitted to KIMS Medical College and Hospital in Bhubaneswar.
His family later staged a demonstration with the body outside the Keonjhar Collectorate, alleging that the institute authorities concealed facts and failed to provide medical records explaining the cause of death.
The boy’s father, Raghunath Munda in his first information report (FIR) alleged that the college authorities contacted him on Friday morning, informing him that his son had fallen sick and been admitted to hospital.
Some accounts suggested the boy had slipped in a bathroom and fractured his leg.
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Official reports on the case
Officials of Infocity police station said that Munda was assaulted and strangulated inside a hostel washroom following a dispute over spilled dal, contradicting the earlier claim of KISS that he had died after slipping in a bathroom.
According to police officials, the assault took place inside the washroom, where the victim was allegedly first beaten and then strangulated by three of Munda’s classmates.
“The post-mortem report indicated that it was a case of homicidal violence rather than an accidental fall as claimed by the KISS officials,” a police officer said. He said three students, all minors, have been apprehended and produced before the juvenile justice board of Khurda district. All the three were sent to a correctional home.
“I found some marks on my son’s neck. No one could give me a satisfactory reply as to how a boy can die from bone fracture,” the father said.
Munda alleged that neither KISS authorities nor KIMS hospital provided medical treatment papers, discharge summaries, or any written explanation regarding the boy’s death.
He alleged that no post-mortem examination was conducted before the body was handed over.
KISS is a sister concern of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT).
The Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights said strict action will be taken against KISS if it was found that the child died due to unnatural causes.
When contacted, KISS officials did not react to the developments. The copy will be updated whenever a response is received.
