Suicide: College officials face charges

As many as five staff members of the Nehru College at Pambady near Thrissur in Kerala are facing charges in connection with the suicide of a first-year engineering student of the college, Jishnu Pranoy earlier last month.

Pranoy’s family and students at the college had been constantly demanding that murder charges be slapped on college authorities for the incidents leading to his suicide.

The 18-year-old, they say, was forced to take the extreme step owing to harassment by the college authorities.

Police filed charges yesterday against five persons including the Nehru group chairman, P. Krishnadas, vice principal Shaktivel, and staff members C.P. Praveen, Vipin and Sajith.

Non-bailable offence

The five faces charges under provisions that do not permit a bail. The accused face charges including assault and conspiracy.

The college authorities, in their explanation to the human rights commission, had earlier submitted that Pranoy was caught copying in an examination. However, the police and university officials have dismissed that allegation.

In a fresh turn to the case, the five officials facing charges including the public relations officer of the college have reportedly gone missing from their homes, giving the slip to policemen who visited their homes.

The officials are fearing their imminent arrest based on the charges filed against them.

All major students’ organisations including the Kerala Students’ Union, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and the All India Students’ Federation are continuing to hold protest marches and other events demanding justice for Pranoy’s family.

Pranoy’s death triggered a series of student strikes across several campuses in Kerala, primarily demanding a change to some stifling rules imposed by private college managements.

One of those strikes at the Kerala Law Academy in the capital ended with the removal of its principal, Lakshmi Nair from her post.