The Kerala High Court on Friday dismissed an anticipatory bail plea filed by Kannur Dental College professor, Dr. M Kodanda Ram, who is accused of verbally harassing a Dalit student, Nithin Raj, who died by suicide in April [Dr. M Kodanda Ram v State of Kerala & ors].
Justice A Badharudeen delivered the verdict today.
Nithin Raj, a dental college student in Kerala, died by suicide on April 10 after jumping from a building near the college. Before his demise, Raj is alleged to have faced caste-based harassment from the faculty at the dental college.
Dr. Ram, the head of the department at the dental college, is the prime accused in the case. The police booked Dr. Ram and two other staff members for abetment of suicide and for offences under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (SC/ST Act), based on a complaint by the student's father.
Dr. Ram and another accused faculty member Dr. Sangeetha Nambiar, had earlier approached a sessions court seeking anticipatory bail.
While the sessions court granted the relief to Dr. Nambiar on April 25, it denied anticipatory bail to Dr Ram.
This prompted him to approach the High Court for anticipatory bail.
The State opposed the plea. The State's Public Prosecutor told the Court that the statements of two students indicated that Dr Ram's conduct with students was improper and that he even instigated other teachers to harass the deceased student.
During hearings, the Court had made observations regarding recurring allegations of harassment in medical colleges and suggested that the state should consider constituting a committee to study such complaints and recommend remedial measures.
Meanwhile, Dr Ram's counsel denied the allegations of caste-based harassment. The counsel relied on CCTV footage showing Raj in the college principal's room before his death and documents indicating loan recovery harassment faced by the student.
After considering the rival submissions, the Court has dismissed his plea today.
Dr. Ram's plea was filed through advocates S Rajeev, V Vinay, MS Aneer, Anilkumar CR, Sarath KP, Dipa V, KS Kiran Krishnan, Akash Cherian Thomas, Azad Sunil, TP Aravind, Maheswar Padickal, Akshara S and Nivedita Rajeev.