Gujarat university sees 2 student suicides in 6 days; ABVP protests, police action
A 20-year-old engineering student allegedly died by suicide after jumping from a building on the campus of Marwadi University in Gujarat's Rajkot district on Friday morning, police said.
With this, the university has reported two student suicides within six days, with the latest involving a third-year Computer Science student from Andhra Pradesh. The second death triggered an ABVP protest on campus, during which police and protesters clashed. Police are investigating health, ragging and other possible angles.advertisement❮❯ Read Full StorySECOND STUDENT DIES IN SIX DAYSA student of Marwadi University in Rajkot allegedly died by suicide after jumping from the sixth floor of a university building on Friday morning.
The student has been identified as Hemanth Gandamane, a third-year Computer Science student from Andhra Pradesh. According to information gathered by our reporter, Hemanth had attended two lectures before the incident.
Police teams reached the campus soon after the incident and began investigating the circumstances surrounding his death.
The incident comes just six days after another student of the university allegedly died by suicide. The earlier case involved a female Computer Science student, identified in the local report as Shobharni, who allegedly jumped from the ninth floor.POLICE PROBE HEALTH, RAGGING ANGLES
Police are questioning Hemanth's family, friends, professors and others connected with the university to establish what led to the incident.
A police investigation is also looking into whether he had faced ragging, among other possible angles.
According to the earlier police information, the student had been distressed about his health and had undergone a few surgeries. Police had said he had reportedly told his hostel roommate that if his health problems continued, he wanted to die. No suicide note had been recovered.
The university has also formed a committee to investigate the incident.ABVP PROTESTS ON CAMPUS
The latest death triggered protests by ABVP at the university. Tensions escalated between protesters and police during the demonstration.
According to our reporter, police slapped some ABVP workers and used batons during the clash. Videos of the police action have also emerged. Some ABVP workers were reportedly injured and taken to a private hospital for treatment.
Police later detained protesting ABVP workers and increased security on the university campus. More than 100 police personnel, including teams from the ACP, SOG and local police, were deployed.UNIVERSITY, FRIEND RESPOND
Marwadi University Deputy Registrar Nidhish Varghese said the administration was saddened by the second student death within a week. He said Hemanth was good at studies and that the university would fully cooperate with the police investigation.
Hemanth's friend Rushikesh, meanwhile, alleged that university Registrar Pinto Menon had scolded Hemanth the previous day and behaved rudely with him. These allegations have not been independently established.
With two student deaths reported within six days, questions are now being raised over student safety on the campus. The actual circumstances behind Hemanth's death will become clear as the police investigation progresses.
