Thiruvananthapuram, April 13 -- Two days after a Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) student was found dead at a private medical college in Kerala's Kannur district, his family on Sunday alleged that he was murdered and that a senior faculty member had repeatedly hurled casteist slurs at him and remarked on his skin colour. While his family members claim he was pushed off the third floor of the six-storey college building, Chakkarakkal police, which has registered a case of unnatural death, said the initial findings point to suicide. The first-year student, a native of Nedumangad in Thiruvananthapuram district and belonging to a Scheduled Caste (SC) community, was found dead at the Kannur Medical College building in Anjarakkandy around 1.30 pm on Friday. A senior police officer told HT, "We are currently treating it as a case of suicide. We have not found evidence yet of him being pushed off the building by anyone. We have not recovered a suicide note either. The doctor who conducted the autopsy said the death resulted from injuries during the course of the fall. The final report is still awaited." The student's family members alleged that faculty members, including the now-suspended head of the department of oral pathology, Dr K Ram, targeted him using alleged casteist remarks and threatened to chop his hands off. "Prof Ram always targeted him and even called him a rabid dog. He was abused based on his dark skin and caste... We had complained earlier to the principal of the college, but he denied it," his sister told local media on Sunday. College authorities did not respond to HT's phone calls seeking a comment on the issue....