Visva-Bharati school student found dead in hostel

SANTINIKETAN: A class 12 student of ‘Patha Bhavana’, a school under Visva-Bharati university, was found dead in his hostel room in West Bengal’s Birbhum district on Thursday, triggering protests by his family and a section of students. A Visva-Bharati official said the student, hailing from Nanur in the same district, was found lying motionless in his hostel room and was taken to Pearson Memorial Hospital at Santiniketan where the doctors declared him dead. The body was then sent to Bolpur sub-divisional hospital for post-mortem examination.

The 17-year-old student’s father lodged a complaint at Santiniketan Police Station alleging there was an attempt by the university to suppress facts since his son was murdered and so the body was hurriedly taken from Pearson Memorial Hospital to another hospital. “We have received the complaint and are awaiting the post-mortem report,” a police officer said.

The Visva-Bharati authorities have launched an inquiry to know the circumstances behind the death, the official said. Meanwhile, tension mounted on the campus as the father of the deceased alleged that the university was trying to “hush up the matter”. He also said that the deceased was not suffering from depression and it was not a death by suicide. The student’s father went to the official residence of Vice-Chancellor Prof Bidyut Chakraborty but could not meet him.

The incident triggered protests on the campus by a section of students. The SFI held a sit-in near the residence of the VC on Thursday afternoon demanding to know the circumstances behind the student’s death. "We will gherao the residence of VC if the mystery behind the murder is not unravelled," SFI university unit leader Somnath Sow said. A district police officer confirmed the filing of complaints and said an investigation was on.