Nikhil Dhar, who pleaded not guilty to charges of armed assault on a professor with intent to murder, has been refused bail following a hearing in a court in Cambridge, Massachusetts, December 28.
Dhar, 22, allegedly stabbed the professor, Mary Elizabeth Hooker, at her Cambridge home because he was upset with his failing grade in her class. According to the police, Dhar knocked on Hooker's door at 6.30 pm on December 23 and dragged her to the ground while shouting abuses at her. According to them, he stabbed her many times before slashing her neck and ripping off her shirt. He also had a note with the word 'kill' in his right coat pocket, the police said.
While the professor has been released from the hospital, Dhar, who is considered a flight risk because he could go back to India, remains in jail, awaiting a second hearing on January 19. He has pleaded innocent to the charges, and has told the police that Hooker mistook him for a burglar and chased him out of the house, leading to a fight.
Meanwhile a public relations official at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, where Dhar was a junior with a major in clinical science, told rediff.com that Dhar "will not be enrolled at the school" even if he is granted bail. One reason for his disbarment was his failing grade, the official said.
Dhar has retained through his family Stephen Hrone, one of Boston's best-known defense attorneys, with over 35 years of practice.
Hrone told the media the situation was 'complicated' but added that his client does not have a history of violence. Dhar also has the full support of his family, Hrone said. Earlier, he had asked the Cambridge District Court to place Dhar under house arrest at his uncle's home near Boston with an electronic monitoring bracelet, but the judge refused.
Echoing Hrone's assertion that Dhar was a well-regarded student, several UML students told the local newspapers that they were shocked to hear the charges against Dhar.
'Honestly, I would never have known that he would do something like this,' Mita Hirani, a student at Lowell, wrote in an e-mail to boston.com. 'He's a nice kid and just very active in school and always there for everyone.'
If he is found guilty, Dhar faces at least five years in prison. Since he was on a student visa, Dhar, who studied in Calcutta before coming to America, could be deported to India after serving part of his sentence.
