Kerala Veterinary student death: Stripped, assaulted using a belt and wire, says remand report

WAYANAD: The remand report of the suspect linked to the recent death of a second year student at the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University in Wayanad has alleged that the victim was assaulted viciously. Police had arrested all the 18 accused who have been remanded to judicial custody, in the case pertaining to 20-year-old Sidharthan J S, who was found hanging inside the bathroom of the college hostel on February 18.

While urging the court to avoid giving bail to the accused, the report submitted by the police on Sunday said that a belt and a cable wire were used to assault Sidharthan. Police have charged the accused under sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapon), 306 (Abetment of suicide), of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Kerala Prohibition Of Ragging Act. The report said that his classmates and senior held a public trial inside the hostel alleging that he had misbehaved with a girl student of the college.

Police said that one of the accused called Sidharthan, who had left for home, back to the college to settle the issue related to his "misbehaviour" using the "unwritten law" of the hostel, instead of approaching the police. "He was stripped down to his underwear and the accused assaulted him. Some of them used a belt and a cable wire," the report said.

It said that the assault began on February 16 at around 9 PM and lasted till 2 AM on February 17. Police urged the court not to give the accused bail as the parents of the deceased have demanded a full inquiry, claiming that that the victim would not have killed himself. Sidharthan was a second year Bachelor of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry student.

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His parents have claimed that some of his college mates told them that he was beaten to death by some local SFI leaders and activists. The father contended that according to the postmortem report, his son's body had three days' worth of injuries and an empty stomach, which indicated that he was brutally beaten up and not given any food. Following the parents' claims, the political waters in the state were stirred as the Congress and the BJP accused the ruling CPI(M)'s student wing SFI of beating Sidharthan to death. The Students Federation of India (SFI) has denied the allegations. The police had initially registered a case of unnatural death.