Kerala cyber police have registered a case against loan app operators in connection with the death of a dental college student in Kannur district, police said on Monday.
Another case has also been registered against faculty members for abetment to suicide and caste-based harassment.
According to police, the call data records obtained from the deceased’s phone pointed to a loan he had taken from an online app to fund his mother’s medical treatment, which is purportedly yet to be fully paid back.
Recovery agents from the loan app are believed to have repeatedly contacted the student as well as a faculty member regarding the loan.
Police are investigating whether the loan and its dues are connected to the student’s alleged suicide.
The student’s father confirmed that his son had availed the loan for his mother’s treatment.
Investigators believe the app may have accessed the teacher’s contact from the deceased’s phone and used her to mount pressure on the student to pay back the dues, police said.
The cyber case has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita: sections 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 308(3) (extortion) and 66D of the Information Technology Act (cheating by personation using computer resources).
At the same time, the primary focus of the probe remained on the allegations raised by the deceased’s family that the first-year student was routinely harassed by faculty members at the dental college based on caste and colour.
