VIBHA VERMA
vibha@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Thirteen days after going missing, Assistant Professor of Economics at Goa University (GU) Vishal Chari was found hanging on a tree in the thick jungle at Chandreshwar Parvat at Paroda.
The scholar’s death has shocked his family, colleagues and students. Coming from a humble local family, Chari, who was MA and PhD in Economics, had recently been appointed to the post at GU. Prior to joining the varsity on a regular basis, Chari was teaching at Shree Damodar College of Commerce & Economics from June 2014 till April 2020.
Since he was an introvert, many are clueless as to what led Chari to claim his own life. “We lost a very good academician. Although an introvert, the professor would never hesitate to help his colleagues and his students in academics,” a GU official told Herald.
Chari’s fellow colleagues and students are yet to come to terms as there was no indication that he would take this extreme step. One of them said that he was busy preparing e-content for his students as virtual classes commenced from September 1.
“He joined the varsity in May. Due to lockdown and also academic vacation till June 15, there was hardly any interaction among the faculty members. He barely conversed but he also wore a smile on his face whenever any person approached him,” recalled his senior adding, “He was visiting the university regularly during the admission process and preparing e-content for his students.”
Chari had excelled over several candidates for the assistant professor’s post at GU with his colleagues calling him ‘intelligent.’ “He got selected in his first attempt. He was highly intelligent,” an official said.
The academician had previously taught at Shree Damodar College of Commerce & Economics. Herald spoke to Principal Dr Prita Mallya who remembered him as a sincere and dedicated teacher.
“He was a sincere and dedicated teacher, who was devoted to research. He was very helpful. He has helped many other teachers who were doing their research. He was also very approachable as far as students were concerned” she said.
Chari’s popularity could be measured with many taking to t social media seeking help to search for him, soon after his missing report was registered at Old Goa police.
As per a missing person’s complaint, the scholar had left his home at Merces in a Tata Bolt car on the morning of August 29. He had been missing since then. Nearly 50 personnel from the police stations and IRB were deployed to search for him. On September 10, when foul smell began emanating from the jungle at Chandreshwar parvat, locals called the police.
Chari’s found was found hanging on a tree. He had used his trousers to hang himself. “The victim’s brother identified the body, as it was highly decomposed. The clothes and his slippers were also identified as that of Chari,” a police official told Herald.
The laptop, mobile and other materials found from his car parked at the base of Chandreshwar Bhootnath temple at Paroda, has been handed over to the forensic team for examination.
His funeral was conducted on Friday after the post-mortem. A police officer revealed that his viscera have been sent for chemical analysis and investigation will cover all the angles. “We have registered a case of unnatural death but we will probe all the angle to ascertain what led to his suicide,” an official at Quepem Police Station said.
