Police lathi charge injures 40 in Silchar as student death protest turns violent

A third-year student of NIT-Silchar allegedly died by suicide on the campus, following which his classmates began a protest that eventually turned violent, prompting the police to stage a lathi charge in which 40 people were injured, officials said on Saturday, 16 September.

The student, a native of Arunachal Pradesh, was found hanging in his hostel room on Friday evening. Alleging that he was forced to die by suicide owing to the actions of the college authorities, his classmates stopped the police from taking down the body.

Two hours later, as the police managed to send the body for post-mortem, the students began a demonstration in front of dean of academics BK Roy's official residence on campus.

They alleged that Roy had insulted the victim who got six backlogs in his first semester examination, which was held online in 2021 owing to the Covid pandemic.

During the pandemic lockdown, the student was at home and failed to attend the online classes due to a lack of internet connectivity, resulting in the backlog, they claimed.

He had appealed to the authorities to conduct a special examination so that he could clear the backlogs but Roy allegedly insulted him. Following this incident, he locked himself in his room and his body was later found hanging, the students said.

The protest over the death escalated when the students allegedly vandalised Roy's residence, Cachar superintendent of police Numal Mahatta said.

"They attacked the police and other officials as well. At one point, we had to lathi charge to control the situation. We are now investigating the matter," he said.

About 40 students were reportedly injured in the lathi charge and sent to Silchar Medical College and Hospital for treatment. The conditions of some of the students are stated to be serious, officials said.

NIT-Silchar director Dilip Kumar Baidya said he has sympathy for the student who died, but he had a poor academic record. "Some students fail, and they come with illegitimate demands," he said.

Cachar district commissioner Rohan Kumar Jha visited the campus and formed a committee to investigate the incident.

The students, however, said they would continue their protest in a democratic manner. "Our classmate died because of wrong decisions taken by the authorities, we'll continue our protest until justice is served," said one of the protesters.

A large police contingent was deployed on the campus, along with one company of the CRPF, the SP said.