Nithin Raj death: College cites loan app issue, disputes caste bias plaint

Kozhikode: The management of Kannur Dental College at Anjarakandy rejected allegations that dalit BDS student Nitin Raj died by suicide due to caste-based harassment and termed the claims baseless. In a statement issued on behalf of Prestige Educational Trust, medical director Prof P Adnan Siddique said the death was linked to issues arising from a loan taken by the student through a loan application.According to the management, Raj left the principal's room and later jumped from the building after a teacher, who had been receiving calls and messages from the loan app, began drafting a complaint to cyber police.The management said the episode unfolded after a woman faculty member began receiving repeated calls and messages from the loan app as she had been listed as a reference. Raj appeared before the principal and said he had taken the loan on behalf of his brother-in-law Ashokan. The principal then tried to contact Ashokan but his phone was switched off.The statement said Raj told the principal that he had not provided the teacher's name as a reference when he was asked to remove her name from the list. The statement said the teacher then decided to file a complaint with cyber police and started drafting it. At this point Raj left the room and later jumped from the building, the management claimed.The statement said the management had earlier intervened in issues involving the student outside the campus in a bid to help him and that his parents had been called and he was sent home with assurances that counselling would be arranged. Rejecting the allegation of caste discrimination, the management said neither the student's family nor classmates had raised such a complaint till date.The institution said it has handed over CCTV footage covering the sequence of events from the student being called to the principal's office to the police. It also said relevant written communications involving the student and his parents, as well as academic records, have been submitted as part of the investigation.Raj's family rejected the management's claims and said attempts were being made to protect the accused teachers. They reiterated that caste-based ill treatment by teachers was responsible for the student's death.