Kannur student death: College denies caste bias, blames loan app

A BDS student’s death in Kannur sparked controversy as college authorities denied caste discrimination claims, attributing it to a loan app issue. Police booked faculty for abetment and SC/ST Act violations, while investigations continue amid conflicting allegations

Kannur (Kerala): The management of Kannur Dental College, where a BDS student died after allegedly jumping from a building on Sunday, said his death was not due to caste discrimination but linked to a loan taken through a mobile app. The statement was issued by Medical Director Dr Adnan Siddique.

Nithin Raj, a first-year BDS student at a private dental college in Anjarakandy, was found critically injured after falling from a building on April 10 and later succumbed to his injuries.
Police have registered a case against two faculty members for abetment of suicide and under provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, following allegations that Raj was harassed over his caste and complexion.

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In its statement, the management said it was wrong to claim that Raj died due to caste discrimination.
The college said that neither Raj nor his family nor his classmates had complained of caste discrimination.

The allegation is that one teacher made improper comments, and Raj had said a month ago that he would attend the teacher’s class, the statement said.

The college authorities claimed that no formal complaints were filed against the teacher.
They also said they had handed over CCTV footage, letters Raj wrote to his father, and his examination papers to the police investigating the case.

According to the management, Raj had taken a loan through an app, following which one of his teachers began receiving frequent calls and messages from loan operators, which she reported to the principal.
Raj was then called to the principal’s office, where he said the loan had been taken for his brother-in-law, identified as Asokan, it said.

He was asked to remove the teacher’s name from the reference list. However, Raj claimed he had not given the teacher’s name as a reference. The college said it attempted to contact Asokan, but was unable to reach him.

Subsequently, the teacher decided to file a complaint with the cyber police regarding the repeated calls.
After this, Raj left the principal’s room and allegedly jumped from the building, the statement said.
The management said CCTV footage of the incident has also been handed over to the police.
It further claimed that the college had always supported Raj, including during an earlier issue outside the campus, though it did not elaborate on the matter.

The family had assured that counselling would be provided to him after that incident, the statement added. The college said the clarification was issued in response to what it termed as false allegations raised after the incident.

Recently, the Cyber Police arrested three persons from Noida, Uttar Pradesh, in connection with a loan provided to Raj and the threats to him regarding repayment. Meanwhile, Asokan told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram, that he was unaware of claims that a loan had been taken for him by Raj.
Asokan said he had not received any communication from the college authorities regarding the matter He also expressed dissatisfaction with the ongoing probe.

“In the loan app case, only those handling customers have been arrested. The main accused and the financial sources behind the loans have not yet been identified,” he said.
Asokan further alleged that the prime accused, Dr M K Ram, Head of the Dental Anatomy Department, is still absconding.

“They managed to arrest loan app operators from Noida. But Ram is still absconding and they have not been able to trace him,” he said.
He also alleged that two faculty members, Dr Ram and Dr Sangeetha Nambiar, are being protected in the case.

“There is some pressure in the case. From the management side, pressure has been exerted, due to which these faculty members are being protected,” he alleged.