Wires, belts, and the death of a Kerala veterinary student Premium

J.S. Sidharthan, a Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University student, was found dead in his hostel room in Pookode in Wayanad district; post-mortem and police remand report tell a tale of brutal assault; Ground Zero reports on investigation that has blown tragedy into political firestorm

Trigger warning: the following article has references to bullying and suicide. Please avoid reading if you feel distressed by the subject.

On February 15, J.S. Sidharthan, 21, a second-year undergraduate student at the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University at Pookode village in Wayanad district of northern Kerala, abruptly left campus. He informed his classmates that he was feeling unwell and wanted to go home to Nedumangad, a town located about 430 kilometres away in Thiruvananthapuram district in the south. But he told his parents that he was coming home to attend two temple festivals. No one knows which of these stories was true.

Sidharthan’s father, T. Jayaprakash, 47, a supervisor at a construction company in Dubai, recalls the conversations that his wife Sheeba had with their son. “When Sheeba called him, Sidharthan had reached Ernakulam (in central Kerala). But then he suddenly told her that he was returning to Pookode as he had to submit a certificate. He went back to university the next day,” he says.

When Sheeba tried to contact her son later, he didn’t pick up the phone, says Jayaprakash. “When he finally did, he spoke to her briefly. He told her that he was lying down and would call later.”

Two days later, Jayaprakash received a call from a postgraduate student of the university. He recalls how he froze when he was informed that Sidharthan had been in an accident and was seriously injured. The next day, Jayaprakash flew home from Dubai. But Sidharthan was no more.

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Jayaprakash was shocked to learn that his son had not been in an accident; instead, he had been found dead in the washroom of the men’s hostel in a case of suspected death by suicide. He says he and Sheeba had no idea that their son had any problems.