Sunny Kumar Raushan

Patna, Jan. 27: Police have begun an investigation into the suicide of a first year MBBS student of Patna Medical College Hospital who was allegedly being tormented by seniors for refusing to shell out donation of Rs 1,200 for the upcoming Saraswati Puja.

Sunny Kumar Raushan, 21, yesterday hanged himself from the ceiling of his rented room at the Mahendra Yadav Lodge in Sultanganj where he stayed. The boy, who was from Saran district, lived alone. No suicide note was, however, found.

Sunny’s father Kameshwar Rai is an assistant manager with State Bank of India. His mother Meena Devi said that around three months ago, Sunny had told her that his seniors in college were ragging and abusing him.

Family sources said Sunny had alleged that his seniors had ordered him to shell out Rs 1,200 as donation for Saraswati Puja, scheduled for February 8, or else he would be in trouble.

“Around three months ago, Sunny told his mother that his seniors were abusing him. Last week too, his mother received a call from him when he said they were pestering him to give donation for Saraswati Puja. He had said that the seniors had threatened him with dire consequences if he did not pay up,” said Jogender Singh, a friend of the family.

Police sources said initially the suicide-for-extortion angle was being discounted as even the family hadn’t mentioned ragging as the cause in the FIR lodged with the Sultanganj police. “The FIR has no mention of abuse or ragging. The father has written he will inform the police if he finds any evidence,” said Nand Kishore Rajak, the station house officer of Sultanganj police station.

But police swung into action today after chief minister Nitish Kumar said strict action would be initiated against those found responsible for forcing Sunny to take the extreme step. “Strict action will be initiated if anyone is responsible for the boy’s suicide. Action could be in the form of expulsion,” Nitish said. He has asked Patna district magistrate Jitendra Sinha and senior superintendent of police B.S. Meena to investigate the allegations of ragging and submit a report.

Sources said the government does not wish to take any chances in the wake of the 2009 Aman Kachroo ragging-murder in Himachal Pradesh. Meena visited the anatomy department of PMCH this afternoon to carry out investigations.

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