Bangalore : A City student pursuing higher studies in Germany was found dead under mysterious circumstances there 10 days ago. His body was cremated here on Friday.

However, relatives of 25-year-old Likith Shashidhar were not convinced with the German authorities’ explanation that he had committed suicide. Suspecting foul play, they said Likith used to refer to a “network” frequently that prevented him from returning to India.  

Likith, a student of MS Mechatronics at the University of Siegan in Germany, was found dead inside his hostel room. “He is said to have committed suicide, allegedly due to harassment by seniors at the university,” said the Subramanyapura police.

His father, S V Shashidhar, is a real estate agent and mother, Siddalingamma, a librarian at Jain Vidyalaya here. The family lives at Chikalsandra layout. Likith had graduated in mechanical engineering from Bangalore and was working with a private company here, before opting for higher studies in Germany.

His family had taken loans from various sources to fund his study. He left in October last year, said the police. Some members of his family told Deccan Herald that they had doubts about the cause of his death and expected more information from the German authorities. None of them were ready to buy that Likith had committed suicide. Tara, a family friend, had received a call from the German authorities who said Likith had hanged himself and there were marks on his neck. But nothing specific has emerged so far on the death, said the family.

It was suspected that Likith might have been strangled by some people. “He was in some trouble over the last few months as he had told me over the phone that he was frequently harassed, abused and  mentally disturbed by his seniors at the university,” S V Shashidhar told Deccan Herald.

“Recently, he had expressed a desire to return to India, but made up his mind to stay back as we had raised huge loans. In fact, I had asked him several times to come back.”

The family said Likith would often refer to a “network” that created trouble for him. He told Tara in December last year that he was being monitored by this “network,” which would not allow him to return to India even if he was willing. He had further said the “network” followed him everywhere. However, he had not divulged much about the network.

Social media

Tara said some of Likith’s seniors at the university had even posted nasty comments on his Facebook page, following which he closed the account for some time. The family  said Likith might have been murdered by the network.

The German authorities had conducted a post-mortem before sending the body to India. “I just signed some papers. I did not understand the content as it was in German and English. I don’t know whether there was a proper post-mortem,” S V Shashidhar said.

Siddalingamma received a call from the German Embassy on January 8, informing her that Likith had committed suicide. She did not inform her husband since he was suffering from cardiac problems. Instead, she spoke to family friend Guruprasad, who completed the formalities to bring Likith’s body to India. The body arrived at Bangalore at 11:45 pm on Thursday.-DH News