Kin says professor who killed himself was threatened, harassed

Asutosh Singh Raghuwanshi, who juped before a train

The family of a 27-year-old Maths professor who committed suicide recently have alleged that he had been hounded to death by the partners of the coaching classes they jointly owned. Asutosh Singh Raghuwanshi, who had joined a coaching class in partnership a few months back, jumped in front of an oncoming train in Vasai on Friday.

The Vasai Government Railway Police initially thought Raghuwanshi's death was an accident, but the motorman, in his statement, told the cops that he had jumped in front of the train. Raghuwanshi's family also alleged that he took his life because of Professors Pramor More, Vaibhav Awasthi, Praam Parmar and Rahu Jain, who are also directors of the coaching centre. Raghuwanshi's brother, Sujeet Singh, told mid-day that the professors had been harassing him for months.

Impressed by Raghuwanshi's popularity in the coaching circle, the professors had taken took Raghuwanshi in as a partner in July. "Ashutosh was a brilliant professor and used to teach at several coaching institutes in Mumbai, Nalasopara and Virar. He joined the P V R Science Hub in partnership with the four professors and invested lakhs of rupees. Because of his hard work and dedication thousands of children joined the classes," Sujeet said.

"However, a couple of months back Raghuwanshi's partners tried to stop him from teaching at other coaching institutes. When he refused, they told him that they would make him pay if their business suffered. They also threatened to sell his house to recover the money if needed," the brother added.
The directors have, however, refuted the allegations, saying that Raghuwanshi committed suicide because he was being forced to get married. "Prof Ashutosh Singh died due to personal reasons. We have evidence of him unwilling to get married. We paid him regularly, have evidence that we granted him leave," they told mid-day on Sunday.

Sujeet rubbished the professors' claims, saying Raghuwanshi was going to marry the woman of his choice. "It was a love marriage, there was no pressure of any sort," he added.

The police have, meanwhile, filed an accidental death report and are investigating the matter. A GRP inspector said they will take statements of Raghuwanshi's family members and act accordingly.

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