The Hindu : Front Page : Youth kills girl student, himself in Santiniketan

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Monday, Jan 07, 2008
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Youth kills girl student, himself in Santiniketan

Marcus Dam

KOLKATA: Saswati Pal, a third year girl student of Sangeet Bhavan, Visva Bharati University in Santiniketan, was shot dead by a youth around 12.30 p.m. on Sunday. The youth, who shot himself subsequently, died in a hospital.

It is suspected that a service revolver, found missing from the Tollygunge thana here, was used in the incident. The constable to whom it was issued has been suspended. The police were told that the victim and the assailant had known each other. Both, hailing from Ghatal in Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal, were in their Twenties.

A university spokesman, describing the incident as “shameful and extremely unfortunate,” told The Hindu that the authorities were discussing with the police measures to step up security.

Kolkata Police Commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakravarty, who visited the Tollygunge thana after the incident, said it was suspected that Amaresh Kundu stole the revolver from a box used by the constable.

The Santiniketan incident is the second campus killing in the country since the dawn of the New Year. On January 3, a school student was allegedly shot dead by a senior in a school at Chorbari village in Satna. In December 2007, a student was killed by two of his classmates in Gurgaon.

Governor shocked

PTI reports:

Expressing shock over the killing, West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi called for serious thoughts to prevent crime. Mr. Gandhi, also the Rector of Visva Bharati University, said: “A life, brimming with the melody and promise of music, has been most cruelly stilled”.

Expressing his condolences to the family of the Saswati Pal, he said: “Though I know that no word can console it, I share the anguish of the students and faculty at Santiniketan, who form a family in themselves. The most abiding tribute that can be paid to the memory of Saswati would be for all concerned to put their thoughts on how to prevent crime, be it sophisticated theft or murder in what is meant to be an abode of peace.”

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