NIT Silchar student death: Father to lodge FIR against institute

"I picked up my son's body from Silchar Medical College and Hospital on September 16 and wanted to plan a quiet funeral, but I've always wondered why my son had to kill himself..." he was heard saying.

Guwahati: The father of a third-year engineering student of the National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Assam’s Silchar, Koj Bukar, who was allegedly found dead in his dormitory room on September 15 has threatened to lodge a FIR against the institute for his son’s death.

The student who allegedly committed suicide was a resident of Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh.

---

His father, a businessman, said that he would file a police report against the NIT authorities in Ziro on Thursday.

“I picked up my son’s body from Silchar Medical College and Hospital on September 16 and wanted to plan a quiet funeral, but I’ve always wondered why my son had to kill himself. This FIR will be my first step in my quest to discover the cause,” he said.

The father asked “If the professor and the institute’s director are innocent, why are they evading capture? Why don’t you come and take part in the investigation if you didn’t do anything wrong?”

The father stated that he is yet to get his son’s postmortem report and that he will visit Silchar NIT this week.

The boy failed in seven subjects in the first semester, according to NIT officials.

“He failed 14 papers in his first two years; therefore, we advised him to catch up before moving on to the fifth semester. There was no harassment,” said NIT Silchar registrar KL Baishnab.

The father acknowledged being aware of the backlogs and and he also requested his son to take care of them first.

He said, “There was no pressure from our side, I informed him, and he can take five or six years to finish the degree if necessary.”

Meanwhile, following the unnatural death of Koj Bukar, more than 2,000 engineering students at the NIT, Silchar, have been on a hunger strike since Monday and are seeking the resignation of the Dean Academics of the institute.

Students are protesting against the academic dean, professor BK Roy, for allegedly abetting the suspected suicide of the student, who was discovered dead in hostel 7 of the institute on September 15.

On Monday, the students began their hunger strike on campus. They submitted a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, outlining their demands and the current state of NIT Silchar.

The students wrote, “Dean Academics has been harassing students since the beginning of his tenure. Koj Bukar committed suicide due to the constant pressure from professor Roy. If this continues to be the state of the college, we don’t know how many more such cases of suicide will surface.”

They have also written letters to the Prime Minister, Assam Governor and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma demanding their intervention.