Kerala veterinary student endured 29-hour assault before suicide, say police

JS Siddharth, the 20-year-old student who was found dead at Kerala Veterinary University in Wayanad on February 18, was subjected to severe ragging and was continuously assaulted for 29 hours, the state police said in their case file handed over to the CBI.

The CBI on Friday took over the investigation into the death of the second-year student and re-registered the FIR filed against 20 people.

According to the case details provided to the CBI, Siddharth was tortured by his seniors and classmates from 9 am on February 16 to 2 pm on February 17. He was assaulted using belts and was subjected to cruel ragging, physical attacks, and mental torture, the primary investigation details in the case file revealed.

"This made him in an utter stage of mental stress and feeling that he could neither continue studying at the institute and complete this course nor go home, dropping the course. As he was so mentally stressed, he felt that there was no option for him other than suicide, he committed suicide by hanging himself in the bathroom of the men's hostel on February 18," the police file mentioned.

Siddharth was found dead on February 18 inside the hostel premises. His family has alleged that students linked to the Students' Federation of India (SFI), the ruling party CPI(M)’s student wing, were behind the assault on the student.

Subsequently, the Kerala police arrested several SFI activists at the college.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had ordered the transfer of the case to the CBI after Siddharth's family demanded a CBI probe, stating that they didn't have faith in the ongoing investigation.