Nearly three months after 18-year-old Kerala college student Jishnu Pranoy allegedly hung himself in his hostel room, some of his WhatsApp voice messages have now been leaked by the media.
The first-year student at Nehru College of Engineering and Research Centre in Thrissur had allegedly killed himself on January 6 after being physically and mentally harassed by officials for “cheating” in an examination. But the voice messages that have now been leaked have raised questions on whether Jishnu’s campaign to postpone examinations had angered the management.
The messages and audio clips that were reportedly from December last year reveal that Jishnu was trying to unite students to campaign for the postponement of exams. In one audio clip, Jishnu is heard saying that he had reached out to different media groups over their efforts to postpone the semester exams.
“I called Asianet they asked us to sit and study. Those at Kairali channel said it is better to set ablaze the college, as they were frustrated that many students from Kerala Technical University (KTU) were calling them to give news,” Jishu says in the audio.
Students belonging to several colleges under Kerala Technical University had launched campaigns in their respective institutes to postpone the semester exams, unhappy with the timetable and demanding more study leave. As student unions were banned in Nehru College of Engineering, Jishnu had reportedly single-handedly tried to bring the issue to the notice of news organisations and the SFI leadership.
Another audio clip reveals that the engineering student had contacted SFI, whose leaders promised to speak with a minister in the LDF government.
While many news outlets have now raised questions over whether Jishnu’s campaign had displeased the college management, the police have refused to comment on the audio leak. Investigating officer and Thrissur Rural DySP Kiran Narayanan told The News Minute that the police cannot reveal anything with regard to the case. “This audio was received by the media now, but we have given details about it earlier itself in the court,” the officer said.
Many students have, however, dismissed reports that the college management was displeased with Jishnu over the campaign to postpone semester exams. They argued that his aim was only to postpone the exams as the timetable did not offer any study leave and was announced all of a sudden. His campaign, they pointed out, was against KTU and not the Nehru College management.
SFI state president Jaick C Thomas told The News Minute that SFI had received many complaints from students belonging to different colleges regarding the exam timetable last December. Following protests by students across several colleges in Kerala, the exams were eventually postponed.