Dalit JNU scholar found dead, family demands CBI probe
NEW DELHI: Fourteen months after the suicide of Hyderabad University research scholar Rohith Vemula set off a Dalit rights movement in various campuses and regions across India, a Dalit student who had been part of that struggle was found dead here on Monday with the police treating it a case of suicide as well.
27-year-old Muthu Krishnan, an M Phil student at JNU'S Centre for Historical studies, hanged himself on Monday from a ceiling fan at his friend's residence in South Delhi's Munirka area, police said. However, his family from Tamil Nadu was not ready to accept police's version that he committed suicide.
In a Facebook post on March 10, Krishnan, who was also known as Rajini Krish, had severely criticised the JNU'S amended admission policy for PHD and Mphil courses.
Krishnan, who hails from Tamil Nadu's Salem district, studied at the Hyderabad University, before joining the JNU and was known to a close friend of Rohit Vemula whose suicide in January last year had triggered a nationwide students unrest.
His body was taken for postmortem to AIIMS on Monday and the premier hospital has constituted a five-member board to conduct the autopsy and issued direction for videography of the procedure which will be carried out on Wednesday.
The decision by AIIMS to form the board came after the student's family members along with some politicians from Congress, AIADMK and DMK and a few JNU students visited the hospital demanding transparency in the autopsy.
"My son cannot commit suicide. He was very strong and confident. We want a CBI probe to be conducted and actual reason behind his death be revealed," said Jeevanandam, Krishnan's father.
He also demanded registration of an FIR under the SC/ST Act.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced a solatium of Rs 3 lakh to Krishnan's family.
NEW DELHI: The deceased, Jawaharlal Nehru University’s (JNU) PHD scholar J Muthukrishnan’s Facebook profile reveals about the discrimination and struggle he went through before he allegedly committed suicide. He was found hanging using a blanket at his friend’s room in Munirka Vihar on Monday.
Muthukrishnan also known as Rajini Krish was a 27-year-old Dalit M.phil student at JNU who allegedly committed suicide due to depression on Monday evening. Rajini was a native of Salem in Tamil Nadu and was an active student in all Dalit movements. His body was found after the cops broke open the door at 5 pm.
The police said, “The deceased student was depressed with personal issues. Also, his friends shared Muthukrishnan’s Facebook posts in which he had alleged discrimination in M Phil and PHD admissions. He also highlighted his stories of struggle and inequality in the admissions of M.phil and PHD programmes.”
While Krish has not left behind any suicide note, a recent Facebook post by him criticising discriminatory admission policies in JNU is being widely circulated on social media.
The latest post of Rajini Krish, read: “When equality is denied everything is denied. There is no Equality in M.phil/phd Admission, there is no equality in Viva- Voce, there is only denial of equality, denying prof. Sukhadeo thorat recommendation, denying Students protest places in Ad – block, denying the education of the Marginals.”
He performed odd jobs to meet his family’s needs as well as to fund his education, the double whammy of poverty and hailing from a marginalised community and discrimination that is rampant in one of the most prestigious universities in the country.
Krishnan who was heartbroken when Vemula committed suicide, had written several Facebook posts on Vemula and was present at all protest meetings held in Vemula’s memory.