Members of Nithin Raj Action Council taking out a protest march to the office of the District Police Chief (Kozhikode City) as part of a dawn-to-dusk Statewide hartal.
| Photo Credit: K. Ragesh
The Supreme Court on Monday (July 13, 2026) rejected the anticipatory bail plea of a Kerala college teacher accused of abetting the suicide of a dental student, observing that such “inhuman conduct” deserved to be dealt with sternly.
“The message has to go that you cannot behave in this way with students… ‘Inhuman’ is the only word that comes to mind. How does he address the students?” a Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta remarked while refusing anticipatory bail to M.K. Ram, former head of the Department of Dental Anatomy at Anjarakandy Dental College in Kannur.
Nithin Raj, a first year BDS student at Kannur Medical College, Anjarakandy, was found dead on the college campus on April 10 in a suspected case of suicide. Subsequently, his family and several fellow students alleged that he had taken the extreme step following repeated incidents of harassment by Mr. Ram and another faculty member, Sangeetha Nambiar.
Appearing for Mr. Ram, senior advocate D.S. Naidu contended that the alleged incident of humiliation had occurred nearly a month before the student’s death and was too remote in time to constitute the offence of abetment. He further submitted that the deceased had also been subjected to harassment by loan recovery agents over an unpaid loan of ₹14,000 shortly before his death.
“The incident with the professor was one month ago. The loan app harassment was one hour ago (before the suicide)… It will have a chilling effect on professors who wish to maintain discipline in educational institutions,” Mr. Naidu argued.
The Bench, however, was not persuaded by the contention that denying anticipatory bail would demoralise teachers from maintaining discipline in educational institutions.
“…a teacher can’t walk away with this kind of behaviour. A student is insulted in the classroom in the presence of other students. What would be the ultimate impact on such students?” Justice Mehta observed.
Mr. Naidu then contended that the accused had already “learnt his lesson”, but the Bench refused to relent.
Mr. Ram is facing charges of abetment of suicide under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with offences under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, which criminalise caste-based public humiliation and provide enhanced punishment where the offence is committed against a member of the SC/ST community.
Mr. Ram had approached the High Court after a Thalassery sessions court rejected his application for anticipatory bail. He had argued that the allegations of instigation were baseless and that there was no prima facie material to show that he had intimidated or publicly humiliated the student.
(Suicide prevention helpline: DISHA: 1056, 0471-2552056)
Published – July 13, 2026 07:35 pm IST
