Death of BDS student Nithin Raj: Kerala Home Minister seeks report on 'flawed arrest' of accused Dr. Ram
The Kerala Home Minister has ordered an inquiry into the flawed arrest of Dr. M.K. Ram, who was accused in the death of a BDS student. The court ordered his release, citing procedural failures by the Crime Branch in a case involving allegations of caste-based harassment.
Why it matters
The case highlights tensions regarding police procedure, political accountability, and the handling of sensitive social issues like caste discrimination in academic institutions.
Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala on Tuesday ordered the State Police Chief, Ravada Chandrasekhar, to conduct a departmental inquiry into the reasons that resulted in Monday’s “flawed arrest” of Dr M.K. Ram, former head of the Department of Dental Anatomy of the dental college at Anjarakandy , Kannur, in connection with the death of BDS student R.L. Nithin Raj in April.
The State’s case was that Dr Ram and another faculty member, Dr K.T. Sangeetha Nambiar, were “complicit” in the student’s death allegedly due to caste shaming in the classroom and also “inquisitorial staff-room questioning” centred around an unredeemed loan-app debt. The Crime Branch had earlier arrested Dr Nambiar, who the court later enlarged on bail.
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