Gauhati varsity lecturer confesses to killing student

The 32-year-old lecturer had gone to the Jalukbari police outpost on Sunday night and told the police that he had killed a woman in his official quarters. On rushing to the spot,the police found a woman lying in a pool of blood with multiple injuries on her head and body. The woman,who was declared as brought dead in the hospital,was later identified as Jharna Owari,a third-semester PG student of the MIL Bodo Department.

The police are also probing the motive behind the murder,especially after reports that while Narzary had proposed to marry the girl,her family had already got her marriage registered with a postgraduate student of the Assam Medical College in Dibrugarh. There are claims that her family had to get her into a court marriage in order to keep Narzary out. We are also looking into these aspects, SSP Saloi said.

But what has worried people in the sprawling Gauhati University campus is how a boarder of a girls hostel could remain outside after the stipulated 6 pm deadline. It is a matter of concern that nobody seemed to be bothered while the student had not returned after 6 pm, said Jogen Kalita,general secretary of the GU Teachers Association GUTA. The GUTA has demanded a high-level inquiry into the incident.

This incident has not only put the university in bad light but also raised several vital questions of discipline and security. It has also put the entire teaching community to shame, said Kalita.

We have always raised the issue of security in the campus. While punishing the culprit is one thing,reviewing the security of the campus is equally important, said Pallavi Saikia,the first woman general secretary of the Gauhati University PG Students Union.

The main entrance of the campus has no security guard. Anybody is free to enter. Security in the hostels,especially in the girls hostels,is also almost non-existent, she said,urging the authorities to provide better security,including night patrolling and streetlights on the campus. Only one of the 10 girls hostels has a female warden,the rest are being run by male faculty members, she added.

Vice-Chancellor Okhil Kumar Medhi said steps have been initiated to beef up the security on the campus. We are probing into how the girl could remain outside the hostel till late in the night. We are also rearranging our security set-up apart from asking the police to start a night patrol, the V-C said.

Interestingly,the security officer of the university has been under suspension for about a decade now. The person presently holding charge does not stay in the campus. The secretary of University Classes,who is like an administrative officer,also resides about 15 km away from the campus.