Meanwhile, an engineering student who was in the same class as one of the accused, while pursuing a diploma, has said that he was also harassed by one of the accused. The student says he had reported it to head of department about two years ago when it happened.
According to the student, the accused and his friends would tease him and make fun of him all the time, which frustrated him. When the management was asked about this, they said they would enquire about the matter on Tuesday and look into it.
Nitin had told his family that the two boys, Pradeep Paikrao and Gaurav Madhvi, made fun of him and teased him. “On May 9, when the examination was going on, Pradeep was sitting on the bench ahead of Nitin and had asked him to show his answer sheet. When Nitin refused, he kept harassing him so much that Nitin left the examination hall immediately after the exam,” said a classmate.
The incident was also mentioned by Nitin’s sister Seema. She said, “Pradeep kept harassing him as he refused to show him the answer sheet, and Dada could not concentrate and did badly. We did not understand then, but it affected him a lot and it could have been the trigger to the extreme step he took”.
She added, “Before leaving home he kept telling me that I should not worry about him and concentrate on studies so that I do well in future. He repeated the statement thrice but we never imagined that he could take such an extreme step. Though he never mentioned clearly what kind of harassment he underwent, dada was a strong person mentally. It must have been something very extreme that forced him to end his life”.
Meanwhile, Kalyan GRP have asked the RAIT management to probe the matter and submit a report about the kind of harassment the victim underwent and whether the accused can be charged under the prohibition of ragging act. “We are waiting for the report from RAIT. The boys will be arrested in a day or two for abetment to suicide and criminal act in furtherance of common intention,” said Police Inspector S Nirmal from Kalyan GRP.
