The father of Koj Bukar, a third-year engineering student of the National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Assam’s Silchar who was allegedly found dead in his dormitory room on September 15, has threatened to lodge an FIR against the institute in connection with his son's death. The student who allegedly died by suicide was a resident of Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh.
His father, a businessman, said that he would file a police report against the NIT authorities in Ziro today, September 21. "I picked up my son's body from Silchar Medical College and Hospital on September 16 and wanted to plan a quiet funeral, but I've always wondered why my son had to kill himself. This FIR will be my first step in my quest to discover the cause,” he said, as stated in a report by IANS.
Father reacts
The father questioned, “If the professor and the institute's director are innocent, why are they evading capture? Why don't you come and take part in the investigation if you didn't do anything wrong?” Further, he stated that he is yet to get his son's postmortem report and that he will visit Silchar NIT this week.
As per NIT officials, the boy failed seven subjects in the first semester. “He failed 14 papers in his first two years; therefore, we advised him to catch up before moving on to the fifth semester. There was no harassment,” said NIT Silchar Registrar KL Baishnab.
The father acknowledged being aware of the backlogs and he also requested his son to take care of those first. Further, he said, “There was no pressure from our side, I informed him, and he can take five or six years to finish the degree if necessary.”
Meanwhile, following the unnatural death of Koj Bukar, more than 2,000 engineering students at the NIT Silchar, have been on a hunger strike since September 18 and are seeking the resignation of the Dean of Academics of the institute. Students are protesting against the academic dean, professor BK Roy, for allegedly abetting the suspected suicide of the student, who was discovered dead in hostel 7 of the institute on September 15.
On September 18, the students began their hunger strike on campus. They submitted a letter to President Droupodi Murmu, outlining their demands and the current state of NIT Silchar.
The students alleged in the letter, "Dean Academics has been harassing students since the beginning of his tenure. Koj Bukar committed suicide due to the constant pressure from Professor Roy. If this continues to be the state of the college, we don’t know how many more such cases of suicide will surface." They have also written letters to the Prime Minister, Assam Governor and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma demanding their intervention, as stated in a report by IANS.
