A 19-year-old Dalit student, Gaddam Santhosh, died by suicide on Saturday morning at the Social Welfare Residential College near Pipri Road in Armoor, Telangana. Santhosh was found hanging from a tree inside the college premises shortly after morning physical exercises.
According to the college staff, students and teachers noticed Santhosh missing after the routine exercise session. A search was launched, and he was later found dead. Police and his family were immediately informed. His body was taken to the government hospital for a postmortem before being handed over to his family.
Santhosh belonged to Arepally village in Nizamsagar mandal and came from a financially struggling Dalit family. His father works in Dubai and his brothers are employed in Hyderabad.
G. Punachandar Rao, the in-charge Regional Coordinator of Social Welfare Residential Junior Colleges, said Santhosh had returned to campus on July 9 after the summer break. He was studying at the Velpur College, which shares its premises with the Armoor College. On the morning of his death, he participated in the physical exercises and was last seen heading to bathe around 6:40 am. He was found dead around 7:40 am.
Rao said that Santhosh was not academically weak, although he had cleared only four subjects in his first year. He added that the switch from Telugu to English medium might have affected his academic comfort. Some students said Santhosh had few friends, which may have affected his mental state, but there is no clear evidence of this.
Santhosh’s brother, Sreenu, filed a police complaint raising concerns about the involvement of the college principal and the physical education trainer. Armoor Police Officer Satyanarayana Goud confirmed that a case has been registered and an investigation is underway.
