Jadavpur University 1st-yr student dies after falling from hostel balcony; ragging alleged
Kolkata, Aug 11: A first-year student of Jadavpur University in Kolkata died after allegedly falling from the second-floor balcony of the main hostel, police said on Thursday.
Swapnadip Kundu (18), a resident of Bagula in Nadia district, was an undergraduate student of Bengali (honours). He allegedly fell from a hostel building around 11.45 pm on Wednesday, they said.
"He received multiple injuries and died at 4.30 am during treatment at the KPC Medical College," a police official said.
Governor CV Ananda Bose, who is also the Chancellor of the university, visited the hostel and assured Swapnadip's father of stern action against those responsible for his son's death.
Classes for the first year began a couple of days back, as another student of that year alleged that ragging by a few seniors was behind his friend's death.
Initial probe revealed that the student was bullied allegedly by some senior boarders of the hostel, the police officer said adding that he called up his mother at around 9 PM on Wednesday and expressed his fear "about something".
"His phone got switched off later. We are looking into his call list to find out whether he spoke to anyone else after that or not," the officer said, adding that they have examined the mobile phones of his roommates.
The police are waiting for the post-mortem examination report.
"It seems that the boy was in mental distress after seniors started terming him gay. There are witnesses when he started showing discomfort regarding this. He called up his mother at least four times on Wednesday and also deactivated his Facebook account in the evening," the officer told PTI.
JU Registrar Snehamanju Basu said in a communique to the Jadavpur police station said the said student was found on the road in front of the main hostel within the campus in unconscious and wounded condition "at 11 pm" and "despite every step taken for immediate and best possible treatment for him, he died at 6 am today."
On the allegation of Swapnodip's father that his son is a victim of ragging, the police officer said that they were talking to the in-charge of the hostel and also the students who have recently started staying there.
Meanwhile, another first-year student of Jadavpur University alleged in a Facebook post that ragging by "a few seniors" was behind the death of his friend Swapnodeep.
"My name is Arpan Majhi. I am a first-year student at Jadavpur University. My family is economically backward and I grew up in Asansol. Naturally, I applied for a hostel during admission. Spending two to three nights at the hostel was quite tormenting to me and because of that, I have started looking for a mess despite facing great difficulty, even if I have to take a loan," he said in that post.
Referring to the ragging by a section of the senior boarders at the hostel, Majhi said, "I have heard many stories about the main hostel. Stories of them helping flood victims, standing by the side of helpless people during the Covid-19 pandemic. I believe most of the seniors in the main hostel carry this fighting tradition. But for a few of them, I lost my classmate," he alleged.
The JU chapter of the All Bengal University Teachers' Association (ABUTA) alleged that the varsity authorities did not take any steps to stop ragging despite knowing about this practice.
Jadavpur University Teachers Association (JUTA) Secretary Partha Pratim Roy called for keeping new students in a separate hostel as per UGC rules and immediately driving out former students who had been living in the hostel illegally.
"We demand exemplary punishment for those responsible for his fate," Roy said.
A spokesperson of the varsity's Arts Faculty Students Union said, "We want a full probe into the incident and punishment for the guilty. We stand by the family of the deceased. We also want that allegations of physical torture of freshers are not raised again."
In the evening, Governor Bose paid a visit to the hostel and spoke to the boarders to understand how the incident took place.
He also spoke to the father of the deceased and assured him of "stern action" against those who were responsible for the death.
Meanwhile, Swapnadip's maternal uncle in a letter to the Registrar demanded a "proper, full-fledged inquiry into the incident".
Registrar Basu said the letter from the maternal uncle has been referred to the internal inquiry committee meeting of the university.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
