Express News Service By

HYDERABAD: Two months after the shocking death of a first year B Tech student, who jumped in front of a moving train, another city youth studying B Tech at a Chennai college committed suicide, allegedly due to persistent ragging by senior students.

K Venkata Krishna Chaitanya (19), a second year B Tech student at Chennai’s Sathyabama College of Engineering, was found hanging from the ceiling of his room at his residence near Nizampet crossroads in the city on Thursday night.

The victim left behind an eight-page suicide note in which he named Sekhar alias Purnachandra Rao, said to be a resident of Vijayawada, as the one who pushed him to suicide.

According to the family, Venkata Chaitanya had arrived in the city for Deepavali holidays. His return journey was postponed due to torrential rains and flood situation prevailing in Chennai. On Thursday, he spent the entire day with his parents at their office and started back home along with them at around 6.30 pm.

While the parents were travelling in their car, Chaitanya rode home on his bike. When the parents reached home, they were shocked to find the body of their son hanging from the ceiling of his room.

“He was found hanging in his room by the parents at around 8 pm. In the suicide note, which was found near the body, the victim said he was taking the extreme step unable to bear the ragging and harassment by his seniors, who are also his roommates at the private PG accommodation in Chennai,” police officials said. Police registered a case of abetment of suicide.

The city police will transfer the case regarding abetment of suicide of K Venkata Krishna Chaitanya to Chennai police, sources said. “We have registered a case against Sekhar, the senior student who harassed Chaitanya as per the complaint lodged by his parents. Since the abetment happened in Chennai, we will talk to senior officers and transfer the case to the police station concerned in Chennai,” V Sreekanth Goud, inspector, KPHB, said. KPHB police registered a case under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the IPC and Section 4(V) of AP Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1997, and took up investigation. Family members said that Chaitanya never complained about ragging and harassment, and did not display any signs of discomfort even in the last few days. However, they told the police that the eight-page suicide note could not have been written just before committing suicide. “It looks like he had taken a decision to commit suicide. We do not know what was the immediate provocation,” Narsimha Lal Babu, Chaitanya’s father, who is a government stamp vendor, said. It may be recalled that Sainath, a student of city engineering college had ended his life unable to bear ragging by seniors, jumping in front of a moving train at Kazipet.

The menace of ragging

Sainath, a student of CMR Engineering College in Hyderabad had ended his life following ragging, jumping in front of a moving train at Kazipet in Warangal on August 31, this year. Two girl students of Guntur in AP also committed suicide in August.