‘Teachers called him idiot, internal marks were reduced to surprise family’; Nithin Raj’s voice message surfaces

KANNUR: More information emerged in the tragic death of Nithin Raj, a first year BDS student of Anjarakandy Dental College, who committed suicide by jumping from the college building, on Friday. In a voice message, he is heard telling his friends that all his teachers insulted and humiliated him. In the audio, Nithin is saying that a teacher called him idiot and he described the staff room as a place where students are attacked as a group. He also said that his family was mocked and that his internal marks were deliberately reduced, allegedly to surprise his family. He further reveals that he was publicly humiliated in front of classmates.

Nithin was the son of Rajan, a painter, and Latha, residents of Uzhamalakkal at Nedumangad in Thiruvananthapuram. Around 1:30 pm on Friday, a teacher informed his mother about the incident. After the postmortem at Pariyaram Government Medical College, his body was kept for public viewing at the college yesterday and later was brought home in Uzhamalakkal.

The head of the dental anatomy department, Dr M K Ram and associate professor Dr Sangeetha have been suspended in the incident. The family had alleged that the department head had verbally abused Nithin, calling him derogatory names and even insulting him based on his complexion. The college principal, Dr Vinod Mani then took action. A panel has also been formed to investigate the incident.