Kerala student’s death: Probe finds dereliction of duty by VC

Thiruvananthapuram, July 17 (SocialNews.XYZ) A judicial commission probe report, submitted on Wednesday to Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, has found serious lapses on the part of Dr M.R. Saseendranath, the suspended vice-chancellor (VC) of the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, in a case involving the death of a student.

The 2nd-year BVSC student, Siddarth’s body was found hanging in a hostel washroom in his college in Wayanad on February 18.

Following the incident, Governor Khan suspended the VC and ordered a judicial probe. Justice (retd) A. Hariprasad was asked to probe lapses, if any, on the part of the university administration.

The report states there was absolute chaos in the university and there was a serious lapse on the part of the VC.

Apart from the VC, the report has blamed the top officials, including the dean and hostel warden of the university for not doing their job properly.

Governor Khan decided to seek a judicial probe after reading the post-mortem report which stated that the student’s stomach was empty. He had said something was "fishy" as neither the dean nor the warden knew of what was happening for days with regard to the student.

Eighteen students, most of them belonging to the SFI (CPI(M) student wing) were arraigned as accused and were in jail for more than two months before securing bail.

Reacting to the judicial report findings, Jayaprakash, father of Siddarth said the need of the hour is those found guilty of failing to act should be dealt with severely and a mere suspension will not achieve anything.

Incidentally, this report comes out at a time when the CBI probe is also progressing.

Source: IANS