NUJS death: Boy fell from water reservoir atop seven-storey building while taking sunrise photo, says father
Telegraph | 15 April 2026
The father of the first-year NUJS student found dead outside the boys’ hostel on Monday said his son may have slipped and fallen from a water reservoir atop the seven-storey building while trying to take a photograph.
Jevin Joss, father of Juven Joss Jebin, said his son had climbed a ladder to reach the reservoir and had taken a photograph minutes before he was found dead on the ground.
“He posted the picture on a social media platform around 7am. I suspect he tried to take another picture by taking a few more steps and fell,” the father said.
He said that the family does not suspect foul play.
“I do not think he jumped as many suspect. He was not under any kind of pressure. I spoke to his friends at the hostel. After talking to them, I have concluded that he could have died after slipping while taking a picture,” said Joss, 53, a businessman.
“Although I am not a forensic expert, I believe he died because of an accident,” he said.
The student’s body underwent a post-mortem on Tuesday. The body was handed over to the family later in the afternoon, and police said it would be taken to their hometown in Kochi.
“The family has not expressed any suspicion of foul play. They are flying back to Kochi,” an officer of the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate said in the evening.
Following standard procedure, an unnatural death case has been registered.
On Monday, the police had said the student was “depressed”, based on preliminary findings.
On Tuesday, the father said: “I do not know anything about that. I also do not think he was under any academic pressure or subjected to any ragging.”
He said that his son had a habit of taking early-morning photographs.
“He ate breakfast with his friends at the mess, then went to his hostel room and later towards the terrace. He took a picture of the sunrise and posted it on social media. The platform was a restricted one and could be viewed only by his friends. He told them that after taking the picture, he would return to his room,” the father said.
“As he did not come down, his friends, based on his post, assumed he was still on the terrace. When they went up and called him, he did not respond. Later, they saw someone lying in blood on the ground below,” he said.
On Tuesday morning, the father visited the Nilgiri hostel with the police and also went up to the terrace.
“My co-brother, who accompanied me, climbed the ladder to the top of the reservoir to understand what could have happened,” the student’s father said.
He said he was aware of the police’s suspicion of suicide. “They were wondering whether he could have jumped. I have discussed with them what could possibly have happened — that he might have slipped and fallen,” he said.
Joss also met NUJS registrar Raja Chakraborty.
The university has constituted a fact-finding committee to investigate the incident. “The committee will submit its report to the vice-chancellor in a day or two,” the registrar said.