Coimbatore
The grieving family members of 24-year-old Sarath Prabhu, a post graduate student at the University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS) who died in New Delhi, suspect foul play in his death.
“He spoke to all of us only on Tuesday night. He sounded pretty well and did not reveal any problem. We couldn’t believe that Sarath is dead. Contradictory reports on his death only raises a lot of doubts,” said his uncle Jayakandhan.
Around 7 am on Wednesday, the family members received the shock of their life, when a roommate informed over phone that Sarath had slipped down in the bathroom and suffered injuries. “We were told that Sarath has been hospitalised. When we called him again, he told us that doctors, after examining Sarath had declared him to be dead,” said Jayakandhan. “He is a very jovial, happy and entertaining person. He wasn’t facing any problems or issues to the level of taking his own life,” he added.
Sarath is the eldest son of P Selvamani, a dyeing unit owner and Kannammal alias Dhanalakshmi. It has been just seven months since Sarath went to New Delhi to specialise in medicine.
“Doctors informed that Sarath killed self by injecting poison. It could never be possible as Sarath is never a serious person and wouldn’t go to that extreme,” the boy’s grandfather E Palanisamy said.
Meanwhile, the inconsolable parents and relatives have rushed to Delhi by air. This was the second incident of a Tamil Nadu youth dying under mysterious circumstances in recent years.
Safety of state students in Delhi is under peril, said Ganesan, father of G Saravanan, a resident doctor at AIIMS and a native of Tirupur, who too died under similar circumstances in Delhi in 2016. Ganesan called on the family members of Sarath Prabhu to console them on Wednesday.
Register with state while pursuing higher education, urges CM
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami underscored the need for the students from here to register with the state’s Higher Education Department, while they leave the state for higher studies. He made this remark when asked whether the government has done anything to ensure the safety of students. “The registry would come in handy in tackling such situations. The state, however, would do everything in its ambit to ensure the safety of students, who are pursuing higher education in other states,” EPS said.
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