Kerala HC moots panel to address student issues in medical colleges

Kochi: High court on Monday orally observed that a committee has to be formed to look into issues concerning the manner in which medical students are treated by medical colleges in the state and suggest remedial measures.

Noting a rise in complaints from medical students, the bench of Justice A Badharudeen observed that “medical students are often treated very cruelly by colleges, even PG students. Many of them do not disclose it because of concerns about their future. They are suffering. A committee has to be constituted and confidential reports obtained on what is happening and what remedial measures are required.” The observations were made while HC was considering the anticipatory bail plea filed by M Kodanda Ram, head of the department of dental anatomy at Ancharakandy Dental College, Kannur, in connection with a case relating to the alleged abetment of the suicide of BDS student Nithin Raj.

Nithin Raj, a first-year BDS student, died on April 10 after sustaining severe injuries in a fall from a college building. The police subsequently registered a case based on a complaint filed by his family, alleging that Ram and other faculty members had subjected him to caste-based discrimination and harassment, which allegedly drove him to suicide. Earlier, the Thalassery sessions court had dismissed Ram’s anticipatory bail plea, following which he approached HC.

During hearing on Monday, the father of the deceased student appeared before the court and sought time to engage a lawyer, stating that his previous counsel had relinquished the vakkalath. Accordingly, HC adjourned the petition to June 8.