On the morning of March 31, the lifeless body of a 19-year-old boy student from Thiruvananthapuram was found on the Kochiveli railway track in the district.
The body of Krishnanunni L Pratap-a first-year student of BCom at Vazhichal Immanuel College- was recovered only hours after he was reported missing. He had gone missing following a public spat with his girl classmate’s family
The previous day, Krishnanunni was allegedly threatened and beaten up by the girl's father, when they were spotted riding on a bike together.
Was his death a suicide, an accident or a murder? Since his death, Krishnanunni’s friends and family have alleged that there was more to his death than meets the eye.
While the Pettah police have registered a case of unnatural death and maintain that the cause of death was due to a heavy object hitting him, Krishnanunni's friends have approached the city Police Commissioner, demanding a transparent probe in their classmate's death.
Krishnanunni, a native of Vattiyookavu in Thiruvananthapuram, was a first-year student of Bcom travel and tourism at Vazhichal Immanuel College. On the evening of March 30, he was riding on a bike with his friend, reportedly a student of the same college.
The girl's father, who came to know of this, allegedly blocked the bike and threatened Krishnanunni. Even as a huge crowd gathered around them, Krishnanunni was allegedly beaten up and the girl was taken home. This was the last time anyone saw Krishnanunni, for he never returned home to his brother and his mother.
Late in the night, Krishnanunni's brother Adarsh approached the Vattiyoorkkavu police to file a missing person’s complaint.
"Since they hadn't enquired at the boy's friends' houses, we asked the brother to first do that and return to file a complaint the next morning. But the next morning, Pettah police had already found the body from the railway track," Vattiyookavu Sub-Inspector told TNM.
The Pettah police was intimated by the railway authorities about "a person who was hit by a train." Krishnanunni''s body was found near the railway track.
"The body had injuries primarily on the backside, including on his head. According to the doctor who conducted the post mortem, the death was caused due to a heavy object hitting him," Chandrabose, Sub-Inspector of Pettah police station told TNM.
Although the post mortem report will take at least ten days to come, the police say that they have recorded the statement of the doctor.
"Prima facie, the boy died as he hit by the train. His family and friends, however, alleged the involvement of Krishnanunni's lover's family in the death. We cannot at this point speculate whether it was a suicide or murder. Those are the aspects that will be revealed during the investigation," the inspector said.
The police said that they were in the process of verifying his call records and tracing the tower locations, to ascertained where else Krishnanunni had gone in the hours before his death.
Allegations
Krishnanunni's friends, however, have refused to buy the police version. In a complaint, students of Immanuel college alleged that "certain people" were trying to influence the investigation.
Pointing out that he had been in a relationship with his classmate, the students recounted the episode where Krishnanunni was beaten up by the girl's father.
"We demand an impartial investigation on his death and hope that his family gets justice," the two-page complaint reads.
Social media campaign
An online campaign using hashtag #JusticeforKrishnanunni has been started by his friends.