Kannur: The District Sessions Court in Thalassery will pronounce its verdict on the bail plea of Dr M K Ram, the main accused in the death of BDS student R L Nithin Raj.

Nithin Raj, 19, a native of Thiruvananthapuram, was a first-year BDS student at Anjarakandy Dental College in Kannur. He died by suicide on April 10 after falling from a building on the campus.

Ram, a former head of the Department at the college, is accused of abetting Nithin's suicide. The prosecution alleges that the student faced sustained mental harassment from Ram, including caste-based humiliation and discrimination. He has been charged under Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deals with abetment of suicide, and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Ram evaded arrest for nearly 100 days before a Crime Branch team led by Inspector Sreejith Koderi took him into custody in Kodagu, Karnataka, on July 19, after the Supreme Court rejected his bail plea.

The Thalassery Principal Sessions Court, however, refused to remand Ram in custody the next day, observing that the investigating agency had failed to communicate the grounds of arrest to him as required by a recent Supreme Court ruling. He was subsequently released.

Following the incident, Kannur Crime Branch DySP Sudheer Kallan was suspended over alleged lapses in the arrest. The action also followed the Kerala High Court's criticism of the police for allowing Kallan to remain in service despite findings of serious lapses in handling the arrest.

Ram later surrendered before the new Crime Branch team on July 23 after the Thalassery SC/ST Sessions Court permitted his re-arrest. The Malappuram Crime Branch, under SP Mohanachandran Nair M P, is now conducting the probe.

The second accused, Dr K T Sangeetha Nambiar, had earlier been granted anticipatory bail by the Thalassery Additional Sessions Court.