Kamal Ghorui
NOIDA: A second-year BTech student died after jumping from the fourth floor of his private hostel in Greater Noida’s Knowledge Park 3, hours after being reprimanded for consuming alcohol, police said. His friends claimed he felt humiliated and accused the hostel staff of assaulting him.According to police, Udit Soni, who came to Greater Noida from Jhansi’s Bhognipur, had returned to the hostel late on Friday evening with two friends after drinking. Hostel authorities confronted the three students for violating rules and allegedly recorded a video of the incident, which was later sent to Udit’s father, Vijay.Udit’s father later spoke to him over the phone, scolding him and warning that he would be removed from the hostel and brought back home. A senior officer said Udit appeared distressed after the call and jumped from the fourth floor shortly afterwards. Udit was rushed to a nearby hospital but was declared dead on arrival. The incident sparked anger among students, some of whom vandalised parts of the hostel and damaged buses parked nearby. Police personnel had to be deployed to bring the situation under control, while senior officers visited the campus and held discussions with students to defuse tensions.One of Udit’s friends, Harshit, a BBA student who lived in the same hostel, alleged that the situation escalated despite the students agreeing to pay a fine for violating rules and drinking. “Udit, Chetan and I had stepped out earlier in the evening and returned around 9pm, well before the hostel’s 10pm deadline. But the hostel management imposed a fine for drinking. We accepted it and Udit paid Rs 10,000,” he said.Harshit alleged that after the fine was paid, hostel staff assaulted Udit in front of others. “There was a large crowd. They hit him with pipes and other objects,” he claimed, adding that the incident deeply affected Udit. According to Harshit, Udit later went upstairs, saying that even his father had never hit him. He appeared depressed after the incident, he said.According to other students, Udit told his friends that he was going to the balcony to wish a friend on his birthday. By the time Harshit and his other friends found him, Udit had already jumped off the fourth floor. Harshit claimed it was the first time that the hostel staff had assaulted someone.Police said they are examining these claims as part of the investigation. Based on a complaint filed by Udit’s father, a case of abetment to suicide has been registered against the hostel warden and two staffers. The warden and a staffer have been detained.A separate case has also been registered against unknown persons for vandalising hostel property. Police said a special team has been formed to probe the matter, CCTV footage from the hostel is being examined, and several witnesses are being questioned. Another police source said initial checks of CCTV footage showed Udit and his friends returning to the hostel around 9.25pm on Friday.
