NID student commits suicide

Gautam Ratnam, a Third Year textile student at the National Institute of Design, committed suicide hours before he was to present himself before the assessment jury on Tuesday.

Gautam Ratnam, who stayed at the NID hostel, ended his life by hanging himself from the ceiling fan. A case of accidental death has been registered according to police sources.

Personal Welfare Officer PS V Kurup said Gautam was on a vacation and came back from Bangalore only on Sunday, as his semester was to begin from Monday.

He said Ratnam was to appear before the assessment jury about 3.30 p.m. on Tuesday but when he did not report, the hostel warden was asked to inquire.

When the warden opened the door, he found Ratnam hanging from the ceiling fan.

According to Kurup, a day before the incident Ratnam was behaving normally. He had talked to other boys in the hostel and told them that he had an assessment jury on Tuesday. He said Ratnam’s relatives including his uncle had arrived from Bangalore.

Sethuram, chairman of the Professional Education programme, said that Ratnam joined ND) in June 1997 and after completing his foundation course in June 1998, got into textile designing. He said Ratnam’s work was reviewed and as it was not of sufficient standard, it was suggested that he change his discipline as per his interest or take a drop of one year and come back later.

Sethuram said the assessment jury was going to discuss which discipline Ratnam should shift but before that he committed suicide.

Students said that Ratnam was seen last on Monday and after that no one saw him on campus. It was only on Tuesday that the students found out that he had committed suicide.

Police Sub Inspector D M Bairya is investigating the case.

However, the exact reason for the suicide is yet to be ascertained. Even the time of death will be ascertained after the post-mortem report is received. Police said no letter was found from the room of Ratnam.

Compiled from Local news media