BHUBANESWAR: A day after a 20-year-old medical student at a government medical college in the western Odisha district of Bolangir died after allegedly falling off the roof of the hostel, his family members alleged that he was murdered.
Nishant Kumar from Karnal in Haryana had taken admission in Bhima Bhoi Medical College in Bolangir district 10 days ago and was supposed to begin his first-year classes on Saturday. But on Friday afternoon, he was found dead under mysterious circumstances after falling from the roof of the seven-storeyed hostel building.
The mother of the young medical student said her son was being ragged the day he arrived in the college but the police insisted that it was early to arrive at any conclusion.
“My son was psychologically tormented and later murdered. He cleared NEET without any coaching in his first attempt. Due to ragging and torture by seniors, he was not able to concentrate on studies and prepare a schedule,” said the mother of the deceased after reaching Bolangir with other family members.
“I used to call my son daily. He was crying due to harassment. When I asked Nishant to report the matter to the authorities, he said his seniors will torture him more for complaining. Two days ago, the seniors abused him and he was mentally very disturbed. A few hours before his death, Nishant narrated his ordeal to me over a video call describing how senior students were harassing him.”
{{/usCountry}}“I used to call my son daily. He was crying due to harassment. When I asked Nishant to report the matter to the authorities, he said his seniors will torture him more for complaining. Two days ago, the seniors abused him and he was mentally very disturbed. A few hours before his death, Nishant narrated his ordeal to me over a video call describing how senior students were harassing him.”
{{/usCountry}}She alleged that the seniors had made a WhatsApp group and used to call the juniors for ragging at late night hours.
Dean of the medical college, Sabita Mohapatra said there was no ragging complaint by the deceased.
“We have anti-ragging squads that keep track of such occurrences,” she said.
Bolangir superintendent of police Nitin Kushalkar said it was too early to say anything about the cause of the death as police were still waiting for autopsy report.
“We have seized the laptop, phone, diary and flute of the deceased from his hostel room for any possible clues to the death,” said the SP.
This is the second case of a medical student’s death under suspicious circumstances in a college campus over the last year.
In October last year, a second-year student, Nirupama Nanda, was found hanging from the window railing of her hostel room. Family members of the