Jadavpur University in Kolkata.
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
"I used to fast for his well-being but still couldn’t save him," said the mother of the first-year Jadavpur University student who died after falling from the second-floor balcony on August 10 amid allegations of ragging, as she demanded the return of her son or the handover of those behind his death.
According to a report in The Indian Express, the grieving family, now staying at a relative's home nearly 15 kilometres from their residence in the Nadia district have several questions regarding the demise of their son, for instance the reason behind not calling an ambulance and not letting police enter the hostel premises.
Shedding light on several other problems that her son faced in the system, the mother, who is a health worker told the publication that he was not even assigned a hostel room at first.
“Our son wasn’t allotted a room. In fact, he was asked to stay as a guest with one of the boarders. Were the authorities not aware of mismanagement in hostels? Why the UGC guidelines were not followed? We could not afford to pay for guest accommodation. Isn’t it the responsibility of university authorities to ensure the safety of new students? There was no transparency on how many beds or rooms were there.”
As the grieving mother spoke about the lack of financial resources with her to approach a court, her younger son recalled telling his late brother that he wanted to join him at the university. “I want to study mechanical engineering. I told him that I will also join JU in two years. I wish I was there to save him. He wanted to come home and share a few things.”
The victim's father believes that it is his fault for thinking that his son was in "safe hands".
"I was so proud that he was going to JU," added his father who works at a cooperative bank.
Seeking a jail sentence for his "killers", the headmaster of the school where the deceased studied is still "shocked" on the untimely loss of "an obedient student."
His mother shared that the last conversation that she had with him, he seemed scared.
"He was scared the last time we talked to him on August 9. He said ‘Mother, I want to tell you so many things and I am really scared’. I along with my younger son tried to calm him down but he disconnected the phone after a while. Our family has been destroyed.”
This incident has discouraged families to send their children outside their hometowns for education. “My daughter is in class 11 and studying science. This incident has shocked us. I will send my daughter to a local college as I don’t want to take any risk.”
Three more persons were arrested on Friday in connection with the case taking the total number of senior students and ex-students apprehended in the case which has hit national headlines to 12.