Richard Loitam death: Campaign for justice goes viral

A major social media campaign is building up seeking justice for a Manipuri student who died under suspicious circumstances last week.

While the police have described the death as the fall-out of a two-wheeler accident he had met with two days earlier, friends of the victim insist that the 19-year-old Manipuri succumbed to injuries he suffered on being severely assaulted by seniors at college the previous night.

Richard Loitam, a second semester student of the Acharya NRV School of Architecture in Bangalore North, was found dead on his hostel bed on the afternoon of April 18. Both parents of Loitam are doctors themselves.

According to the report filed with the Madanayakanahalli police by the hostel warden S Sudhakar, Loitam met with an accident on April 16 and was subsequently treated at Sapthagiri Hospital. On the night of April 17, he reportedly quarrelled with his hostel mate Vishal Banerjee over watching an IPL match. Another student, Sayed Afzal Ali, intervened and hit Loitam on the face and head. Following the altercation, Loitam returned to his room and was found dead the next day. Some media reports had also insinuated that Loitam was a drug addict.

Monika Khangembam, a campaigner seeking justice for Loitam, dismissed the contention. “He was never into drugs, but was in fact an active sportsperson.” Others have argued that calling Loitam a drug addict was a typical case of stereotyping people from the Northeast.

Derex Sorensangbam, Loitam’s uncle, wondered why the college authorities had taken over two and half hours to inform the family about the death. Sorensangbam, who was in Bangalore to collect his nephew”s body, said, “My belief is that the college authorities and the police are trying to cover up the case by defaming my nephew as a drug addict.”

Khangembam, herself from Manipur, argued that the police’s contention that Loitam had succumbed to injuries from the accident was bogus. “All he had from the accident were a few bruises. The argument that Loitam did not want a scan to ascertain any injury to the head is merely diverting the issue. On the other hand, his body bore marks of severe assault.”

A cursory glance at the postmortem report shows that Loitam had been severely assaulted. Police are waiting for the Forensic Science Laboratory report, which will take close to a month to be completed. Photographs of Loitam's body have been circulating widely on social media websites.

The Madanayakanahalli police have not arrested anyone from the hostel who had allegedly assaulted Loitam.

Meanwhile, Khangembam and others have been building up a campaign to demand justice for Loitam. In less than 12 hours after it was set up, the Facebook group already had 5,000 members. A protest meet has been organised at 4 pm on Sunday at Town Hall. A simultaneous event will be organised in Imphal.