THRISSUR: A student of Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) was found dead in his room at the agricultural college hostel, Vellanikkara in the wee hours of Sunday.
Mahesh (20), son of Velmurugan of Kozhinjampara in Palakkad district, was a second semester student at the college of agriculture and had returned to the hostel 10 days ago after it reopened following the easing of Covid restrictions.
SFI leaders alleged that the student ended his life after he was subjected to ragging at the college. SFI central committee member V P Sarath Prasad said the college campus was dominated by KSU, and that several complaints of ragging have been raised by students. He also alleged that students who have passed out of the college have been still staying in the hostel.
The university authorities denied the allegations. The anti-ragging committee of the university had conducted an internal enquiry on the complaints and that it did not find any evidence of ragging at the college campus, a senior official of KAU said.
As per the information gathered by KAU officials, Mahesh looked happy on Saturday evening and did not show any signs of depression. “Mahesh was talented in art, and was trying to design some objects using thermocol last evening. His roommate was sleeping when Mahesh ended his life by hanging from the fan,’’ said the university official.
According to the university authorities Mahesh had sent a message over the phone around midnight to his friend saying he had done something wrong and was not able to face his parents. The university officials has handed over the friend’s phone to the police.
The police officers also said there was prima facie no evidence to link Mahesh’s death to ragging. “The case is under investigation,’’ said ACP Ollur K C Sethu.
Psychiatrists have cautioned against the tendency to attribute suicides to a single factor. “Suicides are triggered by a complex set of multiple factors, including the personality and behavioural pattern of the victims, as well as external issues. Explaining suicides in simplistic terms could hamper the efforts to understand the phenomenon and adopt preventive measures based on bio-psycho-social dimensions,” said Sailaja, a noted psychiatrist in Thrissur.
