Assam: Calcutta High Court orders to exhume body of IIT-Kharagpur student for post-mortem after family alleges murder

The Calcutta High Court on April 25 ordered the administration to exhume the body of an Assam student studying at IIT-Kharagpur for re-postmortem after the family alleged murder.  

The development comes after the appointed doctor, who has been studying the case, claimed the deceased died by murder, not by suicide. 

Earlier the court-appointed forensic expert sought the HC’s permission to exhume the body of Faizan Ahmed for a second post-mortem who died under mysterious circumstances.

The forensic expert, A K Gupta, told the HC that he could only give a preliminary opinion since the videography of the post-mortem was “inadequate to provide a final opinion”.

Also Read: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma urges Mamata Banerjee to initiate probe into the death of Assam student at IIT Kharagpur

Speaking to IndiaToday NE, the mother of the victim Rehana Ahmed said, "Today the Calcutta High Court gave us a positive response by giving an order to perform a re-postmortem on Faizan Ahmed's body within one month."

The deceased mother also claimed that a team would arrive from Kolkata and take the body for the post-mortem and for which a month's time has been allocated.

"We think what we were expecting from the high court we have got it, she added.

Putting the blame on IIT-Kharagpur, the mother of the deceased claimed that the authorities tried to downplay the entire incident and made it look like it was a suicide.

The mother further alleged that the IIT's authorities have been trying to safeguard a third person who is said to be involved in the crime as the deceased reported a case of ragging to the deputy director via email, however, there has been no stringent action then.

Earlier in October 2022, a 23-year-old IIT-Kharagpur student was found dead in the hostel of IIT Kharagpur.

The deceased was a third-year student of the Mechanical Engineering Department hailing from Assam's Tinsukia district.

The incident came to light after a foul smell started coming from a closed room near the Lala Lajpat Rai Hall located inside the IIT campus.

Following this, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sauna in a letter to his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee requested her intervention for a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Faizan Ahmed.

Notably, the parents of the deceased on observing his body filed a case with the local police in Kharagpur requesting the Superintending of Police, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal and Inspector-in-charge of Kharagpur (Town) Police Station for an investigation.