IIT-Kharagpur Student’s Body Exhumed For Court-Ordered Second Autopsy
Faizan Ahmed was found dead in October last year
New Delhi/Dibrugarh:
IIT-Kharagpur student Faizan Ahmed’s body was exhumed today in Assam for the second autopsy, after several loopholes were pointed out by a court-appointed expert in the first one.
As ordered by the Calcutta High Court last month, Faizan’s body was exhumed and taken to Kolkata by a team of West Bengal police – where his second autopsy will be conducted.
The 23-year-old student’s father raised objections over the presence of IIT-Kharagpur officials at the burial ground in Assam’s Dibrugarh.
“We were told some professors from IIT came here. Why did they come? What is their objective we don’t know. We are doubtful about their presence,” he told reporters.
Faizan Ahmed was found dead in a hostel room on the campus premises on October 14 last year. The college authorities had said it was a case of suicide, but the family had alleged that he had been killed.
His family had told the court that he was pushed over the edge by ragging and that his complaints went unheard by IIT-Kharagpur’s management. “It was a clear case of murder,” they said.
The premier institute had faced scathing criticism from the Calcutta High Court, during the hearing, which observed the incident to be a case of ragging.
The high court while passing the order for exhumation of body had said a second post-mortem is “vital and necessary for arriving at the truth”.
“The body of the victim has been buried as per Muslim rites at Assam. The body of the victim Faizan Ahmed is ordered to be exhumed,” Justice Rajasekhar Mantha had said.
“The investigating officer in the matter shall coordinate with the Assam Police and ensure that the body and/or remains are exhumed, brought to Kolkata by the State Police and fresh post mortem is conducted,” he added.
The high court had earlier pulled up the director of IIT-Kharagpur, located in Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal, in the matter.
The court had, on December 1, reprimanded him for not acting on a ragging complaint, which was followed by the student’s death.
