New Delhi/Bangalore:
Nearly two weeks after he was found dead under mysterious circumstances in his hostel in Bangalore, protests were held in the city and in New Delhi to seek justice for Manipuri student Richard Loitam.
The 19-year-old, a second-semester student of the Acharya NRV School of Architecture in Bangalore North, was found dead in his hostel bed on the afternoon of April 18. While the police are awaiting the final forensic report of his death, his friends and family are crying foul. They allege that Richard was brutally assaulted by his seniors the night before he died.
"The post-mortem shows it is a homicide or by physical assault. So I want that the case be converted into homicide case. We demand justice and the culprit should be punished," Dr Vidyabali Devi, Richard's mother said. Her anger was echoed by Richard's friends and several other students who held protests at the Jantar Mantar in the national capital and at the Town Hall in Bangalore over alleged police inaction in the case.
"They haven't taken any steps. The Karnataka government remained silent. I just want to appeal to everyone that we want justice. Let's punish the culprits and let's arrest them," Alshi Sharma, Richard's cousin said.
According to the First Information Report (FIR) filed with the Madanayakanahalli police by Richard's hostel warden S Sudhakar, he met with an accident on April 16 and was subsequently treated at Sapthagiri Hospital. On the night of April 17, he reportedly quarrelled with his roommate Vishal Banerjee over watching an IPL match. Another roommate, Sayed Afzal Ali, intervened and hit Richard on the face and head. Following the altercation, Richard returned to his room and was found dead the next day.
However, with the post-mortem report being inconclusive, police are looking for more leads. They said they were waiting for the report from the Forensic Science Laboratory.
But Richard's friends are not convinced and have questioned the police's failure in making any headway in the case eleven days after the incident occurred. "The authorities, they are trying to digress the killing of Richard saying that he is a drug addict or something else about his minor accident. The aim should be to properly investigate the murder," a protestor in Bangalore said.
Meanwhile, a social media campaign seeking justice for Richard is fast building up. His friends have setup a Facebook page which has already registered over one lakh members.