Governor Arif Mohammad Khan Takes Harsh Action, Suspends Kerala Vet Varsity VC and Orders Judicial Probe
Thiruvananthapuram: All 18 accused in the death of Sidharthan, a second-year degree student at Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU) campus in Wayanad, have been taken into custody.
In a related development, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan suspended M R Saseendranath vice chancellor of the university and requested the Kerala High Court for a judicial inquiry into the horrific incident.
Sidharthan, 20, was found hanging in the washroom of the men’s hostel on February 18. The postmortem report revealed that the student was subjected to brutal torture for almost three days resulting in grievous injuries all over the body.
The incident created massive outrage across the state because of the involvement of some of the leaders of the CPM-led student wing SFI. With the victim’s father Jayaprakash accusing CPM of shielding the main accused and threatening to sit on a dharna demanding justice, the police swung into action and nabbed all the 18 accused in the case. Earlier the family had alleged that the police were delaying the arrest of SFI leaders under pressure from the ruling party.
Those taken into custody on Saturday include Sinjo Johnson who is the main accused. He was nabbed from the Kalpetta bus stand.
According to Sidharthan’s father, Sinjo had tortured his son the most.
Governor Khan acts tough against Vet Varsity VC
The suspension order of the governor accused the vice chancellor of gross dereliction of duty during the developments that led to the death of Sidharthan on February 18. "The indifferent, negligent and callous attitude of the VC towards his duties and responsibilities, especially in the background of this unfortunate incident is revealed from his report dated February 28,” the Governor said.
Governor Khan told media persons that the postmortem report revealed that the student’s stomach was empty as he was not allowed to eat or drink for more than 24 hours. How is it possible that when such a gruesome activity is happening inside the campus nobody from the university comes to know about it
Arif Mohammad Khan alleged that the SFI had turned one hostel in each university into their headquarters where even authorities are scared to enter.
Meanwhile, animal husbandry minister G Chinchu Rani has criticised the Governor’s decision to suspend the VC. “The governor's action was without consulting the government. We cannot agree with his actions. There was no need to suspend the VC when the departmental inquiry was on. The university has already acted against 19 of the 31 people who received the complaint,” she said.
The minister said a proposal to replace the dean had already been given. She said the university officials’ action of filing a complaint against Siddharthan after his death was not right.
“I was suspended without seeking an explanation,” says VC
Meanwhile, Saseendranath said the governor had suspended him without even seeking an explanation, However, he added that he would not resort to any legal recourse against the governor's order.
"I received the suspension order through WhatsApp when I was about to sign the university's order placing the dean and assistant warden of the men's hostel under suspension over Siddharthan's death," he said.
The former vice-chancellor said that after going through the report of the anti-ragging cell, he found that the dean and assistant warden had committed serious lapses in monitoring the day-to-day activities at the men's hostel.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor met Siddharthan’s family at their residence and assured all support for their fight for justice.
