Rahul Gandhi demands CBI probe into death of vet student Sidharthan, accuses Kerala authorities of cover-up

The perpetrators are active members of the Students Federation of India (SFI), he alleged.

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Demands CBI inquiry

“It has been brought to my notice that the university administration as well as the law enforcement agencies sought to shield the perpetrators instead of bringing them to book. I unequivocally condemn this deliberate ploy to cover up the case,” Gandhi said, days after Sidharthan was found dead in a hostel in Gandhi’s parliamentary constituency, an incident that sent shockwaves across the state.

The Congress leader said the manner in which the arrests were made only after widespread public outrage has shaken “our faith in the possibility of an impartial investigation”.

He said that doubts have been cast on the content of the police remand report.

“At this juncture, the Kerala government has a moral duty to act impartially. We demand a CBI investigation into the death of JS Sidharthan. The future of our youth cannot be sacrificed at the altar of ruthless political ambitions,” Gandhi wrote in the letter.

He remarked that the people are collectively paying a huge price for the shocking culture of campus violence in Kerala. “The blanket impunity enjoyed by certain elements has only served to embolden them. The systematic attempts to stifle voices have turned certain student bodies into violent mobs,” he further stated in the letter.

“Sidharthan was a young student with a bright future and his parents deserve justice. No parent should have to live with the trauma and pain of watching a young life extinguished. The blood-curdling details emerging regarding his inhuman torture are a reminder that the failure of an institution tasked to protect our students can result in a grave tragedy,” the Wayanad MP said.

#Kerala: Wayanad MP @RahulGandhi demands a CBI probe into the death of Siddharthan.

He has written to Chief Minister @PinarayiVijayan demanding an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the death of Sidharthan J.S., a second-year student of the College… pic.twitter.com/Etd6QWNpPg

— South First (@TheSouthfirst) March 6, 2024

Also Read: Congress seeks CBI probe into death of student at Kerala vet university

The death of Sidharthan

Twenty-year-old Sidharthan was found hanging inside the bathroom of his college hostel on 18 February.

The remand report of the suspects linked to his death says that he was assaulted viciously.

Police had arrested all 18 accused and they have been remanded in judicial custody. While urging the court not to give bail to the accused, the report submitted by the police on Sunday said that a belt and a cable wire were used to assault Sidharthan.

Police have charged the accused under sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapon), 306 (Abetment of suicide), of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Kerala Prohibition of Ragging Act.

The report said that Sidharthan’s classmates and seniors held a public trial inside the hostel, alleging that he had misbehaved with a female student of the college.

Police said that one of the accused called Sidharthan, who had left for home, back to the college to settle the issue related to his “misbehaviour” using the “unwritten law” of the hostel, instead of approaching the police.

Also Read: CM Pinarayi Vijayan orders SIT probe

Stripped down and assaulted

“He was stripped down to his underwear and the accused assaulted him. Some of them used a belt and a cable wire,” the report said.

It said that the assault began on 16 February at around 9 pm and lasted till 2 am on 17 February.

Police urged the court not to give the accused bail as the parents of the deceased have demanded a full inquiry, stating that the victim would not have killed himself.

Sidharthan’s parents have accused SFI leaders and activists of beating their son to death, based on what his collegemates told them.

The father said that according to the postmortem report, his son’s body had injuries and an empty stomach, indicating that he was brutally beaten up and not given any food.

Once the parents brought attention to the alleged circumstances of Sidharthan’s demise, it caused a political stir in the state, with the Congress and the BJP accusing the ruling CPI(M)’s student wing SFI of having beaten the student to death.

The SFI has denied the allegations.

(Disclaimer: The headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed, and has been edited for style.)