Associate professor in dental college student death case appears before police, released on bail

Dr Sangeetha Nambiar 56, Associate Professor in the Department of Oral Pathology at Kannur Dental College, Anjarakkandy, and the second accused in the case related to the death of first-year BDS student Nithin Raj, appeared before the Kannur Assistant Commissioner of Police in the morning.

An associate professor of Kannur Dental College and an accused in the case related to the death of a student allegedly harassed over caste appeared before the investigation team here on Monday, police said. Dr Sangeetha Nambiar (56), Associate Professor in the Department of Oral Pathology at Kannur Dental College, Anjarakkandy, and the second accused in the case related to the death of first-year BDS student Nithin Raj, appeared before the Kannur Assistant Commissioner of Police in the morning. On Saturday, the Kannur District and Sessions Court granted anticipatory bail to Nambiar, while denying it to the prime accused, Dr M K Ram, Head of the Department. Police officials said Nambiar appeared before the ACP, accompanied by her lawyer. After recording her statement, police formally arrested her and released her on bail as directed by the court, officials said. Police said that the search for Ram is still underway. While considering the anticipatory bail plea, the court had observed that no evidence had emerged against Nambiar in the police investigation so far. The court had ordered that she be released on bail in the event of arrest, on executing a bond of Rs 50,000 with two solvent sureties. The court also directed her to appear before the investigating officer every Saturday for three months between 9 am and 1 pm. Raj, a first-year BDS student at a private dental college in Anjarakkandy in Kannur district, was found critically injured after falling from a building on April 10 and later succumbed to his injuries. Kannur police, who initially registered a case of unnatural death in connection with the student's demise, later booked two faculty members-Dr Ram and Dr Sangeetha Nambiar-on charges of abetment of suicide and under provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, following allegations by the student's family that he was subjected to caste- and complexion-based harassment.