Kerala Student Suicide: A 20-year-old student was found dead in the bathroom of a college hostel in Kerala's Wayanad district. Identified as Sidharthan JS, the deceased was a veterinary student. His family had alleged that he was assaulted by the activists of the Students' Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M). The incident took place on February 18, and the case is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

According to a report by the Indian Express, the seniors and classmates of Sidharthan "continously" assaulted him for 29 hours before he died by suicide, revealed the suicide abetment case file handed to the CBI by the Kerala Police. Sub-inspector Prashobh PV of Vythiri police station wrote that the "physical and mental" assault by the seniors and peers drove Sidharthan to take such an extreme step.

"They assaulted Sidharthan on February 16 from 9 am to 2 pm till February 17 continuously with hand and using a belt and subjected him to cruel ragging. This made him in an utter stage of mental stress and feeling that he can neither continue study in the Institute and complete this course nor go home dropping the course. As he is so mentally stressed, he felt that there is no option for him other than suicide, he committed suicide by hanging himself in the bathroom of men's hostel in between 12.30 pm and 13.45 pm on February 18," the police was quoted as saying by the Indian Express.

CBI Registers Case

Shortly after receiving a communication from the Center, the CBI re-registered the first information report (FIR) against 20 individuals that was submitted on Friday night to the Vythiri police station in Wayanad.

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan Assured CBI Probe

On March 9, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan assured a CBI probe in the case, following a political controversy, with the Opposition Congress and the BJP claiming that the state administration had still not given the CBI access to important papers. The family members of the deceased also alleged that the government was intentionally delaying the investigation by not handing over files and destroying evidence.

Student Was Assaulted For Eight Months Before Dying By Suicide

The father of Sidhartan alleged that the deceased was harassed for eight months before dying by suicide. He claimed that for several months, the SFI leaders had been "camping" at the campus and that his son had been forced to strip and sit on his knees.

"They were all aware of what was going on. They could have put an end to it back then. I cannot believe that the senior SFI leaders were unaware of what was happening there," he said.