Four days after a student of a Kerala college killed himself after being denied permission to write his final exams, his relatives have alleged harassment and discrimination by college authorities.
Jaspreet Singh (21), a final year BA Economics student of Malabar Christian College in Kozhikode, was found dead in his apartment on Sunday afternoon. He was denied permission to write his final examination, which began on March 2, as he had fallen short of the attendance requirement.
Speaking to TNM, Jaspreet's father Manmohan Singh says that the 21-year-old had come home to Delhi to attend his grandmother's funeral and that despite pleading with college authorities, they had harassed and discriminated against Jaspreet.
"My son who had recently lost his grandmother had a valid reason to miss college. We pleaded with the college authorities to allow him to write the exam. We submitted a leave letter with the stated reasons. But his Head of the Department (HOD) told him to 'go back to Punjab and write the exam'. He said he will not be able to write the exam in Kerala," Manmohan Singh told TNM.
In February, the 21-year-old had gone home to Delhi to attend his grandmother's funeral and had extended his stay to 20 days due to the riots in the national capital, his family said. On returning to Kozhikode last week, he was told to repeat a semester if he wanted to write his final year exams.
Jaspreet learnt that he had only secured 68% attendance, falling short of the 75% requirement stipulated by the Calicut University, under which the Malabar Christian College falls.
However, as he was part of the college National Cadet Corps (NCC) and had taken leave due to specific circumstances, his family was sure that he would be allowed to write the exam by paying a fine.
“The college only allows students lacking attendance to pay condonation fee and write exams two times. The third time around, students are barred from writing exams. Jaspreet had been lacking in attendance for the third time and hence got disqualified,” Investigating officer Vasudevan of the Kozhikode Town police station told TNM.
In order to secure permission, the 21-year-old and his father met the Vice Chancellor of Calicut University who told them that it was upto the college to permit the student to write the exam, and that he could be permitted considering the circumstances in which he absented himself, the family says.
But the Principal of the college refused to permit the 21-year-old stating that other students would oppose the move.
Apart from the deceased, 18 other students this year have been barred by the college from taking their year end exam. These students will have to repeat the semester in order to take the exam again, as per the rules of the institution.
While Jaspreet's family alleges harassment from the Malabar Christian College authorities, investigating officials who questioned the principal told TNM that he had denied these charges.
For now, an unnatural death case under section 174 of the CrPC has been registered in the Kozhikode Town police station. According to his father, the family had clearly mentioned harassment faced by the college in their police complaint. However, the FIR in the town police station makes no mention of these allegations.
“We are still investigating the case and speaking to college officials before adding more sections,” station officers told TNM.