Engineering student dies by suicide at Greater Noida hostel after rebuke over showing up drunk

The student reportedly turned up at the hostel drunk at around 9pm. The hostel management reprimanded him, recorded a video and sent it to his father.

A 20-year-old second-year BTech student died, reportedly by suicide, at a Greater Noida hostel on Friday night after he turned up drunk at the facility, got into an altercation with the warden and was reprimanded by his father over the phone, the police said on Saturday. Later, on a complaint from the student’s family, the warden and the owner of the hostel were booked for allegedly thrashing the student before he jumped to his death, police said.

Police said that the deceased, Nitesh, was reportedly suffering from health issues. (Unsplash/representational)

According to the police, the student, who had come from Bhoginpur in Jhansi, turned up at the hostel in an inebriated condition, along with two friends, around 9pm. The hostel management reprimanded him, recorded a video and reportedly sent it to his father.

However, students accused the hostel warden and management of assaulting him shortly before he died.

“He was taken to the hostel office, where he was beaten with PVC pipes. The hostel owner has bouncers, and they also assaulted him,” said Parth Singh, a hostel resident, who helped take the victim to hospital.

To be sure, the facility is a private hostel located in Knowledge Park-3. According to students, the victim was reportedly drunk and spoke to the warden in a disrespectful manner, leading to an argument. They claimed the situation escalated, and turned physical. “I didn’t know him very well, but I heard that the warden beat him. This has happened earlier as well,” said Rahul (single name), a hostel resident.

Police did not comment on the assault allegations.

Police said that upon receiving the video of the student’s behaviour, his father scolded him, warned that his admission would be cancelled and he would return home.

Students said that the victim was assaulted for an hour, following which he returned to his room and fell to his death. The student was rushed to a hospital in the vicinity at around 11.30pm, when doctors declared him dead on arrival, police said.

The incident also sparked a clash between the hostel residents and the management, and later, the police. Videos circulating on social media showed agitated students damaging hostel property, including a bus, late at night. Hostel student Singh alleged that students who protested against the incident were later subjected to a police lathi-charge. “Many students were beaten, while others ran away. A senior officer was later sent by the hostel management,” Singh said. A police officer, requesting anonymity, denied the allegation. “No, there was no such lathi-charge; however, we needed to clear the students as they were destroying property,” the officer said.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (Greater Noida) Sudhir Kumar said police reached the spot upon receiving the information and took custody of the body. “In the presence of family members, inquest proceedings were conducted,” Kumar said, adding that two people had been taken into custody for questioning.

(Inputs by HT correspondent Asmita Seth)