NIT student dies by suicide; father vows to seek justice

Staff Reporter

ZIRO, 19 Sep: The father of deceased NITian Koj Buker, who allegedly died by suicide in NIT Silchar (Assam) on 15 September, has vowed to fight for justice.

Buker, a third-year electrical engineering student, was found dead inside the NIT campus following which students of the institute protested seeking the resignation of Dean BK Roy.

The dean allegedly misbehaved with Buker.

“I will die trying to unearth the cause of my son’s death. I will fight not only for my son but for the entire NITians of NIT Silchar,” said Koj Pullo, father of late Koj Buker.

The grieving father broke his silence after completing his late son’s funeral.

“I was swarmed by local and regional media in NIT Silchar. They wanted my reaction to my son’s death. I was not in a position to speak to the media, so I did not comment anything there,” Pullo said.

“I have been told that my son died by suicide, but the postmortem report is yet to come, so I won’t be able to comment anything on that” he said.

“Being a father, I had an obligation to perform the funeral. The last rites were done yesterday (Monday). Now my objective will be to find out the reason of my son’s death,” he said, and informed that he will be filing an FIR in Ziro (Lower Subansiri) against NIT Silchar.

Following Buker’s death, NIT Silchar has been rocked by a series of protests by the angry students, demanding the dean’s resignation.

The students staged a protest over the weekend, which turned violent. They allegedly vandalised the residence of Dean BK Roy, who is at the centre of the controversy.

Roy, however, denied the allegation and said that the students tried to kill him and his family at his home on Friday night, and that he hid in a toilet to avoid being attacked.

As many as 40 students were injured in the subsequent lathi-charge by the police. Three cases have been registered against the students – one suo moto by the police; one by the NIT authorities; and another by a group of journalists – for allegedly vandalising public property and attacking them.