The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Monday issued notice to the West Bengal government, Director General of Police and the registrar of Jadavpur University (JU) over the mysterious death of a fresher at a student’s hostel within the university campus.

Swapnadip Kundu, a first year Bengali honours student, died under mysterious circumstances after falling from the balcony of a students’ hostel on the JU campus on August 10.

The NHRC has reportedly expressed anguish over the administrative and monitoring lapses on the part of the JU authorities that lead to the tragic incident.

The Commission also feels that since media reports have suggested attempts on part of the victim student to bring the matter to the notice of the university authorities which did not yield any result, it can be assumed that basic human rights of the victim were violated.

The NHRC, sources said, has sought separate replies both from the JU authorities and the state government in this connection within the next four weeks.

The rights body has also sought explanations from the university authorities on the steps taken by them to implement the anti-ragging guidelines laid out by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and also directions of the Supreme Court on ragging.

On Monday afternoon, the West Bengal Child Rights Commission (WBCRC) had issued a similar show-cause notice to the JU authorities in this matter. Earlier in the day, a PIL was filed before the Calcutta High Court seeking the court’s intervention in ensuring that the anti-ragging guidelines are strictly implemented, not just in JU but in all the state universities.

(This article has been published via a syndicated feed)