Shimla:
Five years after the death of medical student Aman Kachroo due to ragging in Himachal Pradesh, the police on Saturday registered a suicide case following the death of a student of a private polytechnic college allegedly due to harassment by seniors.
The victim was a first year civil engineering diploma student of Gautam Polytechnic College in Hamirpur town, who died after alleged harassment by two of his seniors.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Shamsher Singh told IANS that a case has been registered against the college authorities and two students.
The victim, 21-year-old Amit Kumar, of Palampur in Kangra district reportedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a ceiling fan in his rented accommodation on Thursday night, the police said. He had reportedly been in a disturbed state of mind for quite some time after he was allegedly threatened by his seniors.
Amit, who joined the college last month, was alone in the room as his roommate had gone home that night. His parents got to know about his death in the morning when he did not respond to their phone calls, said a police official.
Deep Chand, the victim's father who lodged a complaint with the police, alleged that the college authorities did not take any action against ragging even though his son had brought it to their notice two days before his death. "My son was in trauma and college authorities took his complaint lightly," he told reporters.
Mr Chand said his son had also mentioned the mobile phone numbers of the students who were threatening him. He had not been attending classes due to fear of being ragged.
The college principal, Rajneesh Gautam, confirmed that the victim had made a complaint in writing and had alleged that some senior students were harassing him.
"We had assured him of action against the culprits but we never expected that Amit would take such an extreme step," he said.
This is the second ragging related death in Himachal Pradesh after the death of 19-year-old medical student Aman Kachroo of Rajendra Prasad Medical College and Hospital in Tanda town of Kangra district.
He died on March 8, 2009 after he was ragged by four drunk seniors who were convicted by a trial court in Dharamsala on November 11, 2010.
They spent three years and five months in jail before the state government waived their remaining seven-month jail term in August 2012.
After the death of Kachroo, the Himachal Pradesh Educational Institutions (Prohibition of Ragging) Act, 2009, made ragging a cognisable and non-bailable offence. Students caught ragging will not only be expelled and be ineligible for admission to any other institution for three years, but may also be jailed and fined Rs 50,000.