New Delhi: The death of a 22-year-old Dalit dental student in Kerala has sparked protests and demands for a thorough investigation after his family alleged that he had faced repeated humiliation from faculty over his caste, appearance and family background – his parents are daily wage labourers.Nithin Raj R.L., who hailed from Uzhamalakkal near Thiruvananthapuram, died on Friday (April 10) after falling from a building on the campus of Kannur Dental College in Kannur district. The first-year BDS student was taken to a medical college hospital but did not survive. His family has raised suspicions about the circumstances surrounding his death.Following allegations of harassment, the management of the self-financing institution suspended a department head and an associate professor and announced an internal inquiry. This action was taken after an audio clip, said to be recorded by Nithin, surfaced on Sunday.In the clip, he is purportedly heard describing humiliation by a teacher: “He [a teacher] openly insulted me, and I suffered to the maximum extent. My answer sheets were shared among all students in the classroom, pointing out certain spelling mistakes. Yesterday, while I was attending his class, he ridiculed my mother… After coming out of the staff room, he called me an idiot. I replied, ‘same to you’. The staff room is a place where we are subjected to gang attacks. He [the teacher] told me that if I spoke out, my hands and legs would be chopped off. I dared him to do it.”His sister Nikitha alleged that the harassment was frequent and her brother was subjected to insult over his “complexion, caste and parents’ coccupation”. “He had told me that the department head used to insult him by calling him a mad dog. He was insulted in the classroom. [The department head] made other students laugh when Nithin was insulted in the classroom. Other students, too, had complained against [the department head] in the past, but no action was taken against him. Nithin had talked to us two hours before he fell from the building. We suspect some foul play, and we want to know what happened to him. He had fallen not from his college building, but from the building of the medical college (which is on the same campus),” she was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.Initially, the police registered a case of unnatural death but later added abetment of suicide charges under Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act have also been invoked, and two faculty members have been booked.A special investigation team led by assistant commissioner Hariprasad has been formed to examine the case. According to investigators, preliminary findings suggest Nithin had taken a loan through an online app and had been threatened by recovery agents after defaulting on repayment. The agents had also contacted college faculty. A separate cyber police case has been registered over the alleged threats, according to police, IE reported.Nithin had enrolled at the dental college in September last year, as per IE.The Kerala State Human Rights Commission has sought a report from the Kannur City police commissioner.According to UGC data submitted to a parliamentary panel and the Supreme Court, caste-based discrimination complaints in universities and colleges jumped 118.4% from 2019-20 to 2023-24. The UGC received 1,160 complaints from Equal Opportunity Cells and SC/ST Cells across 704 universities and 1,553 colleges during this period. The reported incidents rose from 173 in 2019-20 to 378 in 2023-24, the data showed.If you know someone – a friend or a family member – at risk of suicide, please reach out to them. The Suicide Prevention India Foundation maintains a list of telephone numbers they can call to speak in confidence. Icall, a counselling service run by TISS, has maintained a crowdsourced list of therapists across the country. You could also take them to the nearest hospital.