New evidence has emerged in the investigation of Nithin Raj, a Dalit BDS student at Anjarakandy Dental College in Kannur, who died after falling from the fifth floor of a college building on April 10. Recently accessed CCTV footage from the principal’s office provides a glimpse into the events that transpired just 25 minutes before the tragedy.
Key Revelations from the Footage
The CCTV clips, currently being analyzed by investigators, highlight a dual-pressure situation involving both college faculty and external predatory lenders:
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Loan App Harassment: The footage shows teachers interacting with representatives of an instant loan app. The recovery agents reportedly refused to stop harassing faculty members—including a professor listed as a reference—until Nithin’s debt was settled.
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Emotional Distress: Nithin Raj is seen explaining his predicament to teachers inside the room. A subsequent clip captures him walking away in tears, a moment police consider vital in reconstructing his state of mind.
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Faculty Involvement: Teachers claimed Nithin was summoned to the office only because they were receiving persistent, harassing calls from recovery agents.
The Investigation: Caste Discrimination vs. Financial Pressure
While the police are probing the role of the loan app, Nithin’s family has raised much more serious allegations regarding the environment at the college.
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Caste-Based Allegations: Nithin’s parents, who come from a family of daily wage laborers in Thiruvananthapuram, allege that caste-based humiliation by professors was the primary driver of his death.
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Audio Evidence: Audio clips have surfaced in which a young man describes facing targeted ill-treatment due to his Dalit identity.
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Legal Action: Two faculty members, Dr. Ram and Dr. Sangeetha Nambiar, have moved the Thalassery Sessions Court for anticipatory bail, arguing that the loan app’s threats were the sole cause of the student’s distress.
Current Legal Status
The Chakkarakkal police have intensified the probe, shifting the case from an “unnatural death” to a more serious criminal investigation.
| Legal Detail | Status/Charge |
| Primary Charges | Abetment of Suicide (Section 108, BNS) |
| Special Acts | SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act |
| Investigation Team | Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by ACP Hari Prasad |
| Technical Support | Cyber cell experts (to trace loan app origins) |
Kannur City Police Commissioner P. Nidhinraj confirmed that the SIT is looking into both the “digital harassment” from the loan platform and the “social harassment” alleged by the family to determine the exact sequence of events that led Nithin Raj to the fifth floor that afternoon.
