An Indian Naval Academy cadet in his suicide note has accused his seniors of harassing him, said the Kerala Police on Saturday. Officers said that they found the note from Gudeppa Sooraj’s room while investigations were under way. “In the note, it was said that he was mentally harassed by some of the other cadets,” circle inspector of Payyanur police, Azad, told The News Minute.
He, however, claimed that no accusation was levelled against officials. “A case of abetment to suicide will be charged against them,” Azad told The News Minute. Another police officer told Hindustan Times that four trainers were named in the suicide note. Sooraj, 26, committed suicide by reportedly jumping off a building on the INA campus in Ezhimala on May 17.
His family had cried foul play and claimed that Sooraj had told them about the harassment. “A born fighter, my brother will not commit suicide,” one of his siblings had told Hindustan Times. His family members said people in the academy used to envy his success.
Sooraj had joined the Navy as a sailor in 2010 and in 2013 he joined the Indian Naval Academy in Ezhimala after clearing the officers’ test. In 2015, he was dismissed from the INA on grounds of indiscipline during an examination. However, Sooraj moved the court and the bench ordered that he should be reinstated, according to The Indian Express. Sooraj again joined the academy in January 2016.
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