Kerala High Court Denies Anticipatory Bail To Dental Professor in Student’s Death

Overview

• The Kerala High Court dismissed Dr. M. Kodanda Ram’s pre-arrest bail plea on Friday, June 19, and directed police to proceed with arrest and questioning to ensure a fair probe.
• The court said there is prima facie evidence that Ram used caste-linked derogatory words that could have provoked or encouraged the first-year BDS student, and it framed charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
• Ram’s defence had argued that harassment by loan‑recovery agents over a roughly ₹15,000 debt, not faculty conduct, caused the student’s death, but the High Court rejected that explanation as insufficient.
• A Sessions Court had earlier on April 25 granted anticipatory bail to the second accused, Dr. Sangeetha Nambiar, while Ram’s bail was denied at that stage, prompting his appeal to the High Court.
• The judge used the case to spotlight wider student-welfare problems in medical colleges, urging an independent grievance forum and action by the National Medical Commission and education and health authorities to curb alleged mental torture and punitive internal practices.