Medical student ends life over mobile theft charge

Salem (TN): A second year MBBS student of a private medical college here allegedly committed self-immolation in the hostel after he faced charges of stealing a high-end mobile phone of a college-mate, police said today. Goutham, hailing from Kancheepuram, doused his body with petrol and set himself afire in the bathroom of the hostel last night, they said.

According to Police, Sherin lost his mobile phone worth Rs 32,000 on December 14 in the hostel. As the phone was equipped with a tracking sytem, the Sherin and his friends traced it to a person in Cuddalore who told them he bought it from a shop here.

During enquiries with the shop in Salem, the students found the picture of Goutham in the CCTV video at the shop. When they confronted him in this hostel yesterday and threatened to lodge a complaint with police, he took the extreme step of ending his life, Attyampatty Police Inspector Gunasekaran said.