Thiruvananthapuram: There was a student protest on Friday at a private institute at Kovalam, after a student was found dead there. Police say that Swarnendu Mukherjee, an 18-year-old from West Bengal, hanged himself, because of mental stress.
A letter in Bengali was reportedly retrieved from his room at a house, where he and friends were staying on rent. In it, the Bengali teenager talks about not being able to live up to the expectations of his parents, according to sources.
As per the statements furnished by the staff at Institute of Hotel Mana-gement and Catering Technology, the second-year student did not have sufficient attendance. Because of this, he wouldn’t have been able to attend his semester exa-ms to be held next week. Protesting students claim that the principal could have given an exemption to Swarnendu, who had 74% attendance in the place of the required 75%. The principal can make exemptions, they say, but the 10% attendance exem-ption can be made only on medical grounds according to the staff. Swarnendu was a relatively quiet person, with not too many friends, according to someone who knew him. He like most second-year students had to stay out of college hostel, as it can accommodate only up to 300 students.
