Guwahati: Forty people were injured at NIT-Silchar when police resorted to lathicharge as a protest by students following an alleged suicide by a classmate turned violent, officials said on Saturday.
The body of the student, a native of Arunachal Pradesh, was found hanging in his hostel room on Friday evening. The boy’s classmates prevented police from taking down the body, alleging that he was pushed to committing suicide because of the actions of the college authority.
Two hours later, as the police sent the body for post-mortem examination, the students began a demonstration in front of dean of academics BK Roy's official residence on the campus. Roy had insulted the victim who got six backlogs in his first semester examination, which was held online in 2021 because of the pandemic, they alleged.
The student was at home as a result of the lockdown and failed to attend the online classes because of lack of internet connectivity, leading to the backlog, his classmates claimed.
The boy had appealed to the authorities to conduct a special examination so that he could clear the backlogs but Roy allegedly insulted him. The student then locked himself in his room and his body was later found hanging, his classmates said.
The protest over the death escalated and the students allegedly vandalised Roy's residence, according to Cachar's Superintendent of Police Numal Mahatta said.
“They attacked the police and other officials as well. At one point, we had to lathicharge to control the situation. We are investigating the matter,” he said.
Several students critical
The 40 students who were injured in the lathicharge were sent to Silchar Medical College and Hospital for treatment. The condition of some of the students is stated to be critical, officials said.
NIT-Silchar director Dilip Kumar Baidya said he has sympathy for the student who died, but he had a bad academic record.
Cachar's District Commissioner Rohan Kumar Jha visited the campus and formed a committee that will investigate the incident.
The students, however, said that they would continue their protest in a democratic manner. “Our classmate died because of the wrong decisions of the authorities. We’ll continue our protest till justice is served,” said one of the protesters.
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