Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Animal Husbandry Minister Chinchu Rani, who visited the home of the youth whose body was found hanging in Pookode Veterinary University, did not even know the name of the deceased, his father complained.

Jayaprakash, father of J S Sidharthan, who was allegedly assaulted brutally and tortured by SFI activists leading to his untimely demise, said the minister came to his home and had to ask someone who was standing there about “the name of the boy”. Why did the minister come here, he wondered.

He also said that contrary to the claims of the Students Federation of India (SFI), the activists of the student body did not apologise to him or the family members of Sidharth on the incident. “They can’t be pardoned,” he said.

“SFI activists tortured my son to death. How can me and my family members pardon them,” he asked. They do not have the right to even ask for a pardon. SFI state president Anusree came home with some leaders. She never sought the pardon of me or my wife Sheeba. She only said the culprits would be brought to book,” Jayparakash said.

“The effort now is to make Siddharth’s death a case of suicide to enable the accused to get bail. The cops have watered down the remand report. The refusal to slap murder charges against the accused is due to pressure from the CPM. We will even sell all our assets to fight the case,” he said.

“When I asked Anusree why the SFI is not agitating demanding the arrest of all the culprits, she had no answer,” he said. She only said that all efforts are being made “from our side.”

The SFI unit president and secretary are among those who have a role in the murder and subsequent hanging of Sidharthan.

The SFI initially said four culprits have been expelled. Minister Mohammad Riyas said SFI had no role in the murder. If SFI didn’t have any role, why were they expelled from the college, he wondered.

He said the family has not decided whether to ask for a judicial probe or a CBI probe. The dean and the assistant warden know about the atrocities committed against Sidharth. They should also be named in the list of accused. The woman student who filed a complaint against Sidharth, the official who accepted the complaint and the person who held Sidharthan’s phone during the ordeal should also be named in the list of accused, he demanded.