Bolangir medical student death: NHRC seeks report from Odisha Chief Secretary

Taking cognizance of the death of the 1st year MBBS student in the Bolangir Bhima Bhoi Medical College, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Wednesday issued a notice to Odisha Chief Secretary and the Vice-Chancellor (VC) of Sambalpur University.

In the notice, the Commission has directed the recipients to submit a detailed report of the death within four weeks.

First-year MBBS student and a native of Haryana, Nishant Kumar of Bhima Bhoi Medical College and Hospital in Bolangir reportedly died after falling off the hostel roof on April 22.

However, his parents alleged he was a victim of ragging. Later, the surfacing of Nishant's mobile chats with his friends had lent credence to the ragging theory in a big way.

In a chat with his friend, who stays abroad, Nishant mentioned how he was subjected to ragging on the campus. He then went on to narrate how the seniors had prevented juniors from playing in the playground and visiting the park. In the chat, Nishant had even mentioned that he couldn't muster the courage to complain about the ragging to college authorities.

However, the Dean of the medical college Sabita Mohapatra on April 22 dismissed the allegation of ragging behind the suicide. She had said, "There is no question of ragging as the college has an active anti-raging squad."