Presidency University has been named in the FIR over the murder of a first-year BTech student on its campus.
The FIR is based on the complaint filed by Rajeshwari, the mother of the deceased student Laya Smitha (18).
Rajeshwari accused the university of negligence in letting the suspect, Pavan Kalyan, 22, an outsider, onto its campus. She also accused the university authorities of not informing her of the killing. She said she learnt about the incident from the police around 3 pm though it happened over two hours earlier.
Mallikarjun Baldandi, Superintendent of Police, Bengaluru district, said that while the university had been booked for negligence, the main suspect was Kalyan, a BCA student at Nrupathunga University.
Kalyan fatally stabbed Laya in the second-floor corridor of the university’s N Block at 12.58 pm on Monday.
He called her out of class and spoke to her for almost five minutes. They had a heated argument.
He pulled out a knife from his bag and stabbed her six times, including in the neck. After she collapsed, he cut his wrist and stabbed himself four times in the chest where he had tattooed her name.
Kalyan is currently in the ICU at Bowring Hospital. He is responding to treatment but is not in a position to talk.
Police expect him to be able to talk in two to three days. They will question him based on medical advice.
Police have contacted Kalyan’s family but are yet to question them. The family is expected to arrive in Bengaluru in a day or two, a police officer said.
On Tuesday, Laya’s body was handed over to her family after a post-mortem. The family took the body to their home village of V Guttahalli in Mulbagil, Kolar district, for the funeral.
Police have done mahazar (recreation of the crime scene) at the university and are checking CCTV footage.
How did he enter campus unnoticed?
While it’s believed that Kalyan reached the university on a two-wheeler, CCTV footage doesn’t show him entering the main entrance. It just shows him loitering inside the university and passing through various blocks and corridors. “We are investigating how he entered the campus,” an officer said.
Police believe Kalyan met Laya during her lunch break, which is from 12.30 pm to 1.10 pm.
Most students had gone to the canteen for lunch. Only a few students were on the second floor when Kalyan allegedly stabbed Laya.