Kamal Ghorui
BENGALURU: A day after a 19-year-old BTech student fell to his death under mysterious circumstances from the ninth floor of his hostel in Yelahanka New Town, his father blamed the teenager’s educational institution, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), for “not telling the truth” behind his suspicious death.The victim, Lakshya Mishra, a second-year student, fell from the college hostel building at Govindapura around 1.30am Tuesday. He was shifted to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead.His father, Anjani Kumar Mishra, claimed there are mismatches between the statements made by MAHE and what he saw on the ground. According to Mishra, the institution told him that Lakshya fell from a window on the ninth floor and died. “I received a call around 3.30am saying my son had fallen from the ninth floor. After 30 minutes, another call was made to declare his death. When I saw his body in the hospital, there were no signs (deep wounds) of him falling from the ninth floor. Then I inspected the window from where he allegedly fell. It was so narrow that even a child would find it difficult to sneak in. Manipal people (MAHE officials) are not telling the truth,” Mishra said in a video.A senior police officer said based on Mishra’s complaint, a case of unnatural death report has been registered. “CCTV footage shows Lakshya walking alone on the ninth floor around 1am. It is too early to arrive at any conclusion,” he said.Another officer said they are questioning MAHE faculty members. The institution’s spokesperson declined to comment on the issue when contacted by TOI.
