Loan app operators booked in Kerala BDS student death case

KErala cyber police force feature registered a caseful against loan app operators in connectedness with the demise of a dental college student in Kannur district, police said on Monday, adding that another case has also been registered against faculty members for abetment to suicide and caste-based harassment. Both teachers remain absconding, police said.According to police, the call data records obtained from the deceased’s phone pointed to a loan he had taken from an online app to fund his mother’s medical treatment, which is purportedly yet to be fully paid back. Recovery agents from the loan app are believed to have repeatedly contacted the student as well as a faculty member regarding the loan. Police are investigating whether the loan and its dues are connected to the student’s alleged suicide.The student’s father confirmed that his son had availed the loan for his mother’s treatment. “For one and a half months, my wife was undergoing treatment and surgery in the hospital. I wasn’t in a state to work and we needed money. He had taken the loan to fund the treatment and the installment may have been skipped. But I did not receive a single call or message from the college authorities informing me if my son was being harassed by the loan officials,” the father told reporters.The student, a resident of Thiruvananthapuram district, was found critically injured near the medical college block after falling from a building on the afternoon of April 10. He was rushed to a hospital but later succumbed to his injuries.Investigators believe the app may have accessed the teacher’s contact from the deceased’s phone and used her to mount pressure on the student to pay back the dues, police said. The cyber case has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita: sections 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 308(3) (extortion) and 66D of the Information Technology Act (cheating by personation using computer resources).At the same time, the primary focus of the probe remained on the allegations raised by the deceased’s family that the first-year student was routinely harassed by faculty members at the dental college based on caste and colour. The SIT on Monday visited the deceased’s home and collected statements from his family, police said.Chakkarakkal police booked two faculty members of the medical college on charges of abetment to suicide and under provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Both remain absconding and did not respond to calls for comment, police said.Students of the dental college spoke out against the faculty members, attesting to the allegations of caste and colour-based harassment.A batchmate of the deceased student said, “His words in the audio clip that has come out are all true. He gets harassed in class by the faculty. Students are called upon to read his answer sheets. Students in the class are regularly body-shamed. I was mocked for my body weight. Others are mocked for their skin colour.”Another student said, “We have been mentally and verbally abused. Students are mocked based on whether they are fair or dark-skinned.”