Overview
- A 20-year-old third-year B.Tech student, Michi Marpu of Naharlagun, Arunachal Pradesh, was found dead in his rented room in Kothamangalam on Saturday and a three-page note was recovered from the scene.
- Kothamangalam police registered an unnatural-death case under Section 194 of the BNSS and scheduled an inquest and postmortem, with authorities saying a formal probe is under way.
- Higher Education Minister Roji M. John ordered a department-level inquiry and said he has contacted the district police chief after students raised concerns about the circumstances of the death.
- Students and unions said MACE enforced a 22-credit minimum to progress to the fifth semester even though KTU had moved to pause the year-back rule, and the college’s management has agreed to an internal inquiry, allow affected students to attend classes, revise the save-a-year fee, and offer financial help to the family.
- The case highlights tensions between institutional academic autonomy and government oversight and it will be important to watch the outcomes of the internal and departmental reports and whether concrete counselling and grievance measures are put in place for affected students.