The dreams of Umali Naik and Saidamma to see their son D. Karthik, second year student of IIT Hyderabad make it big was shattered after the body of their only son was retrieved from the sea near a beach in Jodugullapalem in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.
Mr. Karthik had apparently ended his life after he went missing from the hostel from July 19. He was found dead under suspicious circumstances under Arilova police station limits in Visakhapatnam and is suspected to have died by drowning in the sea off Jodugullapalem.
The meritorious student, who secured a top rank in the JEE Mains and Advanced examination chose IITH to pursue his engineering dream. He was a brilliant student right from his school days, his sister Sathvika, studying final year BTech in Hyderabad said.
“He secured 954 marks in Intermediate and scored 10 percentile in the SSC examination. He made our small hamlet of Water Tank Tanda proud by securing admission into the prestigious IIT. He got 133rd rank in the JEE Mains and 214 in JEE Advanced entrance,” she recalled.
Ms. Sathvika maintained that Mr. Karthik did not reveal anything about his college life. She only said the family got to know that he had failed in one subject which could have led to depression. “Last month he had come home for just two days and we did not find anything amiss,” she said adding that they are unable to come to terms with his sudden demise.
Karthik’s father Umla Naik is a lecturer in Nalgonda while mother Saidamma works at a teacher in Suryapet district. Water Tank Tanda is a hamlet in Miryalaguda division of Nalgonda district with 100 houses and a population of 600.
The deceased student went missing from the hostel on July 19. His last cell phone signals were reportedly traced at a beach in Visakhapatnam in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. Though holidays were declared to the students, he had applied for permission to stay in the hostels to study for his backlog papers.
Mr. Karthik told family members that he was staying in hostel and studying. Ms. Sathvika said she and her father had spoken to him on July 17 and 18 too but from July 19, they were unable to contact him.
Worried family members rushed to Sangareddy and lodged a complaint with the police. During enquiry the Sangareddy district police said the CCTV footage revealed that he left institute on July 17 itself and boarded a train going to Visakhapatnam. Cell phone signals traced him at beach but his return from beach was not recorded. Three teams from Sangareddy went there and searched for him along with local police.
After postmortem, the body was handed over to the family members. Late on Tuesday evening, the mortal remains of Karthik were brought to the Tanda where the last rites would be performed.
(There is always someone to listen at: +918142020033, +918142020044 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily in case of any emotional breakdowns at this Hyderabad-based suicide intervention centre Roshni. email: roshnihelp@gmail.com)
