The Kerala High Court on Friday reserved its order on the anticipatory bail plea of M.K. Ram, the prime accused in the alleged suicide of Nithin Raj, a first-year BDS student at Kannur Medical College, Anjarakandy.

Dr. Ram was formerly the head of the Dental Anatomy department at the college, where the student was found dead.

During the hearing, the student’s father objected to the plea on various grounds, including adding charges under the Scheduled Caste and Schedule Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities Act), 1989, which is non-bailable, and that there had been a trajectory of events that led to the student’s death.

Dr. Ram denied the allegations of harassing the student and contended that Nithin Raj had failed to pay his debts and was being harassed by loan app operators. He also submitted the remand report, which stated that several calls by the operators were made to the student, threatening his life.

The High Court had earlier observed that the government should note what was happening in medical colleges and that many such incidents were even going undisclosed. The court had also suggested the constitution of a committee to obtain reports on these incidents and formulate remedial measures and guidelines.

The Kannur District and Principal Sessions Court had dismissed Dr. Ram’s anticipatory bail plea, after which he appealed to the High Court.