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Kannur Dental Student Death: SC/ST FIR Filed First, Loan App Harassment Revealed Later, 3 Arrested

Caste FIR Filed First, Loan App Arrests Later kannur dental student death case

The management of Anjarakkandy Dental College in Kannur has issued a detailed rebuttal to allegations of caste-based discrimination in the death of first-year BDS student Nithin Raj R L, stating that the sequence of events on 10 April 2026 was triggered not by institutional harassment but by a loan app crisis that unfolded in the principal’s office minutes before the student fell from the college building, as reported in OnManorama.

What Actually Happened on April 10

According to the Prestige Educational Trust, which manages the college, Nithin was called to the principal’s office following complaints from a faculty member who had been receiving incessant calls and messages from a loan recovery app, because her phone number had been listed as a reference contact for a loan taken by Nithin.

When questioned, Nithin first told the authorities the loan had been taken on behalf of a relative named Ashokan. He then contradicted himself, denying that he had provided the faculty member’s number as a reference. Attempts by the principal to reach Ashokan directly failed – his phone was switched off.

With the harassment of the faculty member continuing and no resolution in sight, she decided to approach the cyber cell. While a formal complaint was being drafted in the room, Nithin walked out. Shortly after, he was found critically injured near the medical college block, having fallen from the top of the building. He later succumbed to his injuries.

The entire chain of events, from being called to the office to the fall, unfolded within a single sitting, over a loan app complaint.

The Caste Case That Was Filed Anyway

Despite this sequence being documentable through CCTV footage and the statements of those present, police registered a case against two faculty members, Dr M K Ram and K T Sangeetha Nambiar, on charges of abetment of suicide and under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, based on allegations of caste- and colour-based harassment.

The speed with which the caste angle was adopted and formalised into an FIR before the loan app context was publicly established is now at the centre of the management’s rebuttal.

The Management’s Point-by-Point Denial

The Trust stated categorically that Nithin had raised no complaints, formally or informally, against any teacher, staff member, or the institution at any point during his time on campus. No family member and no classmate had brought any concern about caste discrimination to the institution either.

On the allegations against the specific faculty member named in the caste harassment claims, the management pointed to an audio clip suggesting that Nithin had previously confronted the teacher directly and had on his own decided to stop attending that class approximately one month before the April 10 incident. Student feedback about the same teacher, the Trust said, consistently indicated equal treatment across the board with no prior complaints through official channels over the years.

The management also disclosed that Nithin had faced personal difficulties earlier in the academic year, during which the institution had intervened – contacting his parents, recommending counselling, and facilitating his return to campus. His father had given written assurance that counselling would be arranged. Faculty members had stayed in touch with the student through this period.

The Evidence Handed Over

The Trust said all materials, CCTV footage covering the period from when Nithin was called to the office through to the moments before the incident, previous statements, academic records, and relevant documents, have been handed over to the police, with whom it states it is fully cooperating.

Meanwhile, the Chakkarakkal police have filed a separate case against the loan application ‘Insta Pay’, alleging that it imposed excessive interest rates and subjected Nithin to harassment. In connection with this case, three individuals from Uttar Pradesh have been taken into custody. The accused, identified as Rishikesh Tiwari (32), Prashant Khewal (28), and Jayaprakash (54), were reportedly managing operations for the loan app. They were apprehended by the Kannur City Cyber Crime police in Noida as part of a coordinated operation, officials said.

The Trust also dismissed claims that the college is built on illegally acquired land, stating that no court or competent authority has made any such finding. It added that such reports were creating unwarranted anxiety among students, parents, and staff.

According to the management, the institution has been under significant scrutiny since the incident and said internal disagreements within Nithin’s family had prevented representatives from visiting his residence.

Urging caution, the Trust appealed to the public not to circulate what it described as baseless allegations, warning that doing so could lead to social discord.

The Pattern Worth Noting

Nithin Raj was a Dalit student from Uzhamalackal in Thiruvananthapuram. The moment his death became known, the caste discrimination narrative was activated, an FIR under the SC/ST Act was filed against two faculty members, and the story was framed and circulated accordingly – within a news cycle that did not wait for the basic facts of what happened in that office to be established.

What the management’s statement now places on record is that the proximate cause of the crisis was a loan app, a harassed faculty member, a contradictory account from the student, and a failed attempt to reach the person the loan was supposedly taken for. None of that is caste discrimination. Whether there were other, longer-running issues of harassment that contributed to Nithin’s state of mind is a matter for the police investigation to determine. But the rush to file an SC/ST Act case, before the loan app angle was publicly known, reflects a pattern in which the caste frame is applied first, and facts are filled in later.

The investigation is ongoing. The CCTV footage is with the police. The truth of what happened in that room, and in the weeks before it, will follow from evidence – not from the speed of the first allegation.

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