BDS student suicide: Key accused Dr Ram surrenders as court permits Crime Branch to re-arrest him

Kannur: Dr M Kodanda Ram, the first accused in the case related to the alleged suicide of BDS student R L Nithin Raj (19), surrendered at the Crime Branch office in Kannur on Thursday, even as the Thalassery SC/ST Sessions Court granted the agency permission to re-arrest him. 

Dr Ram, a former anatomy professor of Kannur Dental College, Ancharakandy, reached the Crime Branch office around 2.30 pm, appearing there while the Crime Branch officers were waiting for the court's permission to re-arrest him. 

The Crime Branch had sought permission to arrest Ram again after the Thalassery Principal Sessions Court cancelled his earlier arrest on July 20, citing procedural lapses. The SC/ST Sessions court granted permission on Thursday after seeking an explanation from DySP Sudheer Kallan on why the grounds for the arrest were not given to Dr Ram in the language he understood. 

According to the Supreme Court’s order, the investigating agency should give in writing the grounds for arrest in a language the accused understood.  Kallan told the court that Dr Ram, a native of Andhra Pradesh, was given the grounds for the arrest in Malayalam. Dr Ram’s defence team used the lapse to get the arrest cancelled on July 20. 

Police had arrested him nearly a hundred days after Nithin Raj allegedly died by suicide on the campus, allegedly over repeated caste and colour-based discrimination from faculty members. The Kerala High Court had criticised the police for not arresting him earlier despite the high court and the Supreme Court rejecting his anticipatory bail applications. The High Court even hinted at conspiracy by top police officers to see Dr Ram walk out after they botched up the arrest by not handing over the grounds for arrest to his family. 

After the fiasco, the investigation was handed over to Malapuram Crime Branch, headed by SP Mohanachandran Nair M P. Soon after, the Crime Branch applied with the SC/ ST Sessions Court to re-arrest Dr Ram. 

Anticipating the rearrest, Dr Ram turned up at the Crime Branch office Thursday afternoon. In the sessions court, the Crime Branch said a fresh report detailing the grounds of arrest had been handed over to Ram's wife. The court granted permission for the re-arrest after examining DySP Kallan's written explanation. 

Ram, a former head of the Department of Anatomy at Kannur Dental College, is accused of abetting the suicide of Nithin Raj, a first-year BDS student at Kannur Dental College, Anjarakandy.  The prosecution alleges that Nithin Raj died by suicide after facing sustained mental harassment from Dr Ram, including alleged caste-based humiliation and discrimination. Ram faces charges 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. 

The college had sacked him after he was booked and more students came out accusing him of discrimination and harassment on the campus.