Journalism of Courage
Frantic calls from the family that were disconnected, a cup of tea with the prime accused, and alleged attempts to destroy evidence – conversations with family, friends and investigators probing the death of a first-year Jadavpur University student paint a startling picture of how his last day transpired.
The 17-year-old was found dead after a fall from the second-floor balcony of the four-storey hostel building on August 9. Speaking to The Indian Express, his family said they made several calls to him around 9 pm that night, hours before the incident, but someone on the other end kept disconnecting them. They also said that they had reposed faith in Sourabh Chowdhury, named by the police as a key accused, to look after the teenager – the family had even sent him sweets as a gesture of their appreciation.
“When we couldn’t get through to our son, we called his seniors. They said he is fine and made him talk to us 15 minutes later. He was answering in just “yes” and “no”, and at some point there was a loud noise in the background, as if he was surrounded by a bunch of people. I got scared and asked him what was going on. He said, ‘Ami bhalo nei (I am not well)’. That was the last conversation I had with my son,” said his mother, breaking down.
His younger brother said the family spoke to Sourabh after dropping the 17-year-old at the hostel on Sunday. On Wednesday, the victim told his younger brother that he had gone out to have tea with his seniors, including Sourabh.
“We thought he was safe with Sourabh and Monotosh (Ghosh, another accused). We are villagers, simple people. I had even handed a packet of sonpapri to Sourabh and told him that my son is a simple boy, and that he should look after him,” said the victim’s father.
Sourabh graduated in 2022 with an M.Sc in Maths but was still living at the hostel. He is one of 12 arrested in the case so far, including six former students. “There was a dedicated room for these former students, where they would call freshers to ‘introduce’ themselves,” said an investigator.
A student residing in the hostel, who did not wish to be identified, said: “Many former students still occupy hostel rooms even as they continue to work outside. They are powerful, and there are no restrictions on their entry.”
After the teen fell to his death, the main gate of the hostel was closed, with police saying primary investigation has revealed that several students allegedly tried to destroy evidence. Police sources said a “meeting” was held near the hostel by the accused to discuss how they could tamper with evidence, and the teen was declared dead only at 4.30 am.
Police have sent phones of the accused for forensic examination and are also probing a WhatsApp group that was deleted later.
Those who knew him described the teen as “simple and respectful”, with a first-year student recalling his love for participating in quiz competitions.
For his middle-class family from a village in Nadia district, around 100 km from Kolkata, sending their child to such a prestigious university was a matter of pride. Son of a local cooperative bank worker and an Asha Karmi worker, the boy was particularly close to his mother.
“He used to take care of his younger brother just like a parent. Before I would return home, he would finish all household chores. I could only manage work with two children because he was such a responsible son,” said his mother.
“He was excellent in studies. Usually you don’t find science students give much importance to Bangla or the mother tongue, but he had keen interest. He would stay back in the Bangla tuition class to clear his doubts. He had no anger, I have never seen him fight,” said his friend Rounak Bakshi.
“I know he loved the language. I even told him such a career can’t guarantee him good money, but he told me he wanted to study Bangla. I had a conversation with him after he got admission and wished him good luck,” said his Bengali tutor Prashanto Biswas.
His classmate from school, Ayush Sarkar, said: “He was very shy… not rough and tough… but does that mean he should have been bullied?”
