The death of a 19-year-old Manipuri boy under suspicious circumstances in his college hostel in Bengaluru has sparked protests demanding justice for the student with his friends and family alleging that that he suffered fatal injuries in an assault by his seniors.
Loitam, a second semester student of the Acharya NRV School of Architecture in Bengaluru North, was found dead on his hostel bed on the afternoon of April 18.
Disappointed with police's handling of the case, students and activists staged protests in Jantar Mantar in Delhi and in Town Hall in Bengaluru. While the police have described Loitam's death as the result of a two-wheeler accident he had met with two days earlier, friends of the victim insist that he died due to injuries he suffered on being severely assaulted by seniors at college on April 17.
According to the report filed with the Madanayakanahalli police by the hostel warden S. Sudhakar, Loitam met with an accident on April 16 and was subsequently treated at Sapthagiri Hospital.
On the night of April 17, he reportedly quarrelled with his hostel mate Vishal Banerjee over watching an IPL match. Another student, Sayed Afzal Ali, intervened and hit Loitam on the face and head.
Following the altercation, Loitam returned to his room and was found dead the next day. However, with the post-mortem report being inconclusive, police are looking for more leads. They said they are now waiting for the Forensic Science Laboratory report, which may take a month for completion.
But Loitam's friends and family are not convinced and questioned why police haven't made any headway even eleven days after the incident.
"The post-mortem shows it is a homicide or by physical assault. So I want that the case be converted into homicide case. We demand justice and the culprit should be punished," Loitam's mother said in Imphal.
"They have not taken any action. Even the Karnataka government remains silent....I just want to appeal to every one that we want justice. Let's punish the culprits and arrest them and let's bring justice as fast as possible," Loitam's cousin Alshi Sharma said in Delhi.
Monika Khangembam, a protester in Bengaluru, and others have been building up an online campaign to demand justice for Loitam. In less than 12 hours after it was set up, the Facebook group already had 5,000 members.