JOIN US A diploma student of Acharya Polytechnic Institute in Bangalore, who was allegedly assaulted by seniors on January 27, died in Kochi late on Monday.
The family of Ahab Ibrahim (21) alleged that he was a victim of ragging. Bangalore’s Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Sandeep Patil said he has ordered a probe by the ACP (Yeshwantpur). Institute authorities had earlier apprised the Soladevanahalli police of ragging incidents in the college, but they did not take any action. Now, a case of unnatural death has been registered with the Peenya police as Ahab’s house was located under their jurisdiction, Patil said.
Ahab died at Medical Trust Hospital in Kochi. The Ernakulam South police have registered a case of unnatural death.
He was a second-year diploma architecture student. According to his family, he was assaulted by a group of seniors in his hostel room around 8 pm on January 27, allegedly in retaliation to Ahab’s complaint to the college management in connection with his ragging by the same group last September.
An Ernakulam South police station official said Ahab was found unconscious in the toilet of his hostel room. The six seniors, including students from Kerala, were absconding.
The family said Ahab was treated for head injuries at a local hospital and was shifted to St James Hospital in Chalakudy after 10 days. He was later referred to Medical Trust Hospital in Kochi, where he was undergoing treatment since February 25.
Sources in Medical Trust Hospital said Ahab was comatose in the two weeks he spent there. They said he was on ventilator and had no external injuries at the time of admission. “Ahab had suffered an intra-cranial haemorrhage. He was already in a really bad condition when we took him in. He was subjected to surgical procedures, including a ventricular drain to relieve pressure on the brain,” Dr A N Harikumar, head of trauma and emergency department at Medical Trust Hospital, told Deccan Herald.
C B M Bhooshan, director, Acharya Institutes, said Ahab joined the institute in 2012. He was detained for one year due to shortage of attendance.
“We have a proctor monitoring every set of students. That is how we came to know that he was not attending classes. He was also not staying in college hostel. On checking with students we were told that he was admitted to Sapthagiri Hospital. Our HoD visited the hospital. Ahab was not in a conscious state. On January 31, his parents came to the college and gave us a written complaint against ragging. We immediately inquired into the same, but did not get any information. However, we forwarded the complaint to the police station along with our report.”