Can’t See, Doesn’t Hear, Won’t Speak- Revelations of the Top

On the morning of 14th October, the campus woke up to the disheartening news of the demise of a 3rd-year undergraduate student of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Following this event, a conference was held on 15th October between the family members of the student and the authorities where the Dean of Student Affairs, Faculty Advisor, President of Gymkhana, Senior Security Officer, Assistant Security Officer, Assistant Wardens of LLR hall, Warden of RP hall, Assistant Warden(Mess) of RP hall along with Student Senate members including the Vice President were present.

There were certain facts revealed in this meeting that needs to be brought to our attention.

A series of events created a commotion after the discovery of the student’s death. The decomposing body of the student was found in his hostel room on the morning of 14th October. The body was initially kept uncovered, and there was a delay in handling the body, causing students to be gathered in the corridor. This led to many speculations about the incident causing a lot of rumours. No representatives from BC Roy Hospital were present on the spot of the incident. When multiple calls to the BC Roy Hospital for an ambulance went unaswered, an ambulance was called from the Kharagpur State Hospital. The body of the deceased was then transferred to the Kharagpur State Hospital, where it remained unattended and unsupervised at the hospital without adequate care in the absence of any institute faculty. It was later transferred to Midnapore Medical College. As is not expected of a Local Guardian, the faculty advisor was conspicuous in his absence during the entire series of events.

The first information regarding the death of the student was communicated to his family by the Police. The family reached the hospital to find the body decomposed beyond recognition, causing them to demand a DNA test of the deceased for identification. Along with the family, three faculty members were present at the hospital, although they offered no consolation to the family.

Vice President TSG and the students’ senate requested the Dean SA several times to meet the family of the deceased, but their requests were unheard. Only after the family’s persistent demand, a round table conference was arranged with the administration on 15th October at TGH, from 11 pm to 3 am. The meeting attendees included the Dean of Student Affairs, Faculty Advisor of the student, President of TSG among others from the administration, and the Senate Members. Shockingly, multiple attempts to meet the Deputy Director in the absence of the Director were declined, and all communications were unfruitful. Furthermore, the conduct of a professor was found to be extremely disrespectful towards the bereaved family as he was found smirking at their sorrow.

The family enquired about the series of events and questioned the present authorities. Further, it came to light that the student had unofficially swapped his previous hall RP for LLR without informing any hall authority or taking proper permission. Their family questioned that if the death of their child occured two to three days prior to the discovery of the body, so why had no authority questioned his absence? They were persistent that the administration had been very casual in dealing with the incident and aftermath; and demanded the resignation of the Dean of Student Affairs and the Assistant Wardens of LLR Hall of Residence.

Seeing the condition of the family and the unresponsiveness of the administration, the Vice-President concluded the meeting with the following questions to the administration:

• He asked the Dean of Students’ Affairs, “Were you contacted by the students multiple times to meet the family members at the hospital (by phone as well as by going to his residence)?” to which the Dean replied, “Yes”.
  The VP further questioned if the Dean SA met the family at the Midnapore Medical College, to which the Dean replied that he didn’t come as he was not feeling well.
• In the second question — “The particular student”, as the VP asked — “he missed 4 mid-semester examinations out of 5. Why didn’t the faculty advisor of the student contact anyone and inform them about this. Do you have any answer?”, the question went unanswered, and silence followed.

The VP further reiterated that the unfortunate incident could have been prevented and dealt in a better way, to which the DoSA agreed verbally. The meeting ended on this note.

The Police and medical probes are still ongoing. In conclusion, the deceased’s mother wanted the administration to accept their shortcomings and take necessary steps to prevent another similar incident.

Official statements by the Director and Deputy Director are awaited even though so much has transpired. So far there has been no communication of the Director or the Deputy Director with the bereaved family.

As we deal with the aftermath of such a confounding tragedy, we are left with unanswered questions and numbing grief in our hearts. We hope that the investigation, in full cooperation of all stakeholders, brings more limelight so that such an unfortunate event does not befall us in the future. We pray that Faizan finds peace in his heavenly abode.

We thank the student representatives for sharing the information of the events that transpired and helping us in bringing this to our attention.

Disclaimer: The facts presented in the article below have been assimiliated from a meeting held between the family members, Dean SA, Faculty Advisor of the Student and other faculties from the administration, and conversation with Student Representatives and family of the deceased.