Casteist slurs, remarks on skin colour: Kerala dental student's family alleges murder

TWo years after a first-year bach of Dental Surgery (BDS) pupil was found deadened at a common soldier medical college in Kerala’s Kannur district, his family on Sunday alleged that he was murdered and that a senior faculty member had repeatedly hurled casteist slurs at him and remarked on his skin colour.While his family members claim he was pushed off the third floor of the six-storey college building, Chakkarakkal police, which has registered a case of unnatural death, said the preliminary findings point to suicide.The first-year BDS student, a native of Nedumangad in Thiruvananthapuram district belonging to a Scheduled Caste (SC) community, was found dead at the Kannur Medical College building in Anjarakkandy around 1:30 pm on Friday.ALSO READ | ‘Not isolated tragedy’: Tharoor on Kerala BDS student's death over ‘caste harassment’ by faculty, refers to viral audioA senior police officer told HT, “We are currently treating it as a case of suicide. We have not found evidence yet of him being pushed off the building by anyone. We have not recovered a suicide note either. The doctor who conducted the autopsy said the death resulted from injuries during the course of the fall. The final report is still awaited.”The officer said they are investigating why the student would take his own life.At the same time, his family members alleged that faculty members, including the now-suspended Dr K Ram, head of the department of oral pathology, targeted him using racial slurs and threatened to chop his hands off.His sister told local media on Sunday, “Prof Ram has always targeted him and even called him a rabid dog. He was abused based on his dark skin and caste. In class, when he insults a student, he wants other students to laugh. And when certain students don’t laugh, he hits them.”“We had complained earlier to the principal of the college, but he denied it. If the call records can be obtained by the cyber cell, everything will become clear. My younger brother would not commit suicide and was likely pushed off the building. He had video-called me on Thursday, too, and he seemed fine,” she said.ALSO READ | Kerala teen who went missing during family visit to Karnataka's Chikkamagaluru found deadAn audio clip of the first-year student talking to his friend about the ‘insult’ he faced from teachers in the staff room is also doing the rounds on social media. His family confirmed the clip was authentic.In the clip, the student is heard telling his friend that one of the teachers threatened to chop his hands off if he stepped out of the college gates and that he would be forced to walk around like an invalid.“He called me an idiot. I said ‘same to you’. You have no idea what they said to me in the staff room. They threatened to chop my hands and feet off if I stepped outside the gates. He said he wanted to see me walk around without limbs. I said I would like to see him try. Teachers like Dr Sangeetha just stood and watched,” he is heard saying in the audio clip.ALSO READ | Woman alleges sexual harassment en route to hospital after accident in KeralaHT could not independently verify the audio clip.Following the allegations, Dr Ram and Dr Sangeetha were suspended by the college management pending inquiry.PS Sanjeev, state secretary of the CPM student wing SFI, said there have been similar allegations against the college management in the past.“It is extremely distressing that a life has been lost. There have been serious complaints against the management there in the past, and we have even held protests. Student outfits like ours cannot intervene effectively in the issues there. If a student reaches out to us, he/she gets expelled,” said Sanjeev.