Engineering student commits suicide due to ragging in Telangana

A first-year engineering student of a private college in Hyderabad allegedly committed suicide after he was reportedly ragged by his seniors in Warangal district of Telangana. V Sainath (18), a native of Ramakrishnapuram in Adilabad district of the state, had left his hostel at Medchal in Hyderabad on Monday afternoon and was not seen since then, police said on Tuesday.

"We received a complaint from railway authorities at 12.20am stating that they had found a body on the tracks at 11.40pm on Tuesday at Vaddepally. We went to the scene and found the head and body severed. It seems he laid down on the tracks and a train ran over him resulting in his death," said Kazipet Railway Police inspector Madhusudan.

A suicide note purportedly written by Sainath was found from his wallet, which blamed ragging by seniors as the reason for his death, the officer said. The note written in English and Telugu stated that he "died due to ragging by seniors".

The note urged "Please stop ragging" and also stated that, "this situation would not have come had seniors not done like that," the inspector said, adding, there was no clarity on which of the seniors Sainath was referring to. "We have not received any complaint that he was ragged and hence he resorted to the extreme step. However, we are inquiring into the matter. Whether he was ragged or if there is any other reason behind his death it is being verified," ACP (Petbasheerabad Division) S Ashok Kumar told PTI.

Sainath's body has been shifted to a local hospital in Warangal for conducting postmortem and his father and relatives have been told that they can lodge a complaint in connection with the matter if they suspect any foul play, police said, adding, a case under section 174 of CrPC has been registered and further probe is on.