BANGALORE: The body of a 19-year-old engineering student was found in a hostel room at CMR Institute of Technology in Mahadevapura on Thursday.
The deceased has been identified as Vivek Kumar Singh, a first-year engineering student and a native of Jharkhand. There were no bruises or signs of poisoning. The body has been sent for autopsy.
According to Mahadevapura police, Vivek and his two roommates were awake till late into the night on Wednesday. At 2.30 am, the roommates decided to call it a night. Vivek told them he would be up for a little longer. His roommates said they have no idea when he went to bed.
When they woke up around 7 am, Vivek was in bed. They did not wake him up and started getting ready for classes. When he did not wake up by 7.45 am, they decided to call him. That is when they found out that he was not breathing and his body had gone cold.
Students Protest
The hostel warden was informed around 8 am and an ambulance was called. The warden reached the hostel around 8.15 am, but the ambulance took around 45 minutes.
By then, the students had begun protesting against the warden and the college. “They were protesting that the college had no doctor for emergencies. Because Vivek was dead, there was some hesitation with regard to moving his body and disturbing the crime scene. The students protested against this,” a police source said.
Police eventually managed to pacify the students, saying Vivek had died between 3 am and 7 am and the warden could not have done much about it.
Dr B Narasimhamurthy, vice-principal of CMR Institute of Technology, said the college officials took the body to BrookeField Hospital, but the doctors did not mention the exact time of death. He said the body was later shifted to Bowring Hospital.
Vivek’s parents have been informed of his death and they are on the way from Jharkhand. A distant relative who lives in Bangalore has filed a complaint at the Mahadevapura police station.