College Student Dies By Suicide In Andhra Hostel, Family Demands Probe

In a tragic incident, a college student died allegedly by suicide in a college hostel in Andhra Pradesh's Vijaywada district, the police said.

"A girl student of Sri Chaitanya College died by suicide in the college hostel building. The incident happened at Tadigadapa Chaitanya College Saraswati Sowdam hostel campus. The parents and relatives of the deceased reached college", the police said on Saturday.

The student was found hanging in the hostel room after being allegedly insulted by teachers, family members said.

The college administrators sent the body for post-mortem, as informed by the college authorities.

The relatives alleged that the deceased who was a native of the Guntur region in Andhra Pradesh, was reprimanded by teachers in front of other students for failing in Zoology Inter first year.

Srinivas, father of the deceased expressed suspicion over the torn-out pages of the diary used by the deceased. The relatives alleged that they were not informed about the girl's death.

They also alleged that the college administration did not let them enter the college premises.

Srinivas stated, "Vani appeared for the exams while she was down with typhoid fever and failed only in one subject. Two days ago my son met her and discussed her education and provided her with moral support. But within hours of this, she was found dead. The college staff didn't inform us about the death for hours. We received a call from an unknown person who informed us about the death."

"We collect hair and resell it for a livelihood. We send children to colleges because education provides good life. But instead of getting a good life and bright future, my child lost her life after joining Sri Chaitanya College", Srinivas added.

Harish, brother of the deceased stated, "We have a lot of suspicions about her death. Principal had reprimanded her so that she ends her life and the College said she was found hanging to the fan in the college hostel building."

"We belong to a tribal community and education is the only source of development for us. We believe in that and admitted her to this college. But the situation was different in this college", Harish added.

Harish further said, "She was a brave and good girl. We demand an inquiry into the death. Also, the college staff didn't inform us about the death."

According to the police, after the declaration of intermediate results, a total of nine students hailing from various regions in Andhra Pradesh died by suicide.

"Relatives of the deceased got into an argument with the college management over the incident", the police said.

Dalit union leader Kusuma and PSDU union president Chandra demanded that the government take necessary action against the college over the death of the girl student.

"The girl was killed by the college administration. They are responsible for the death. Principal reprimanded her in front of other students", they alleged.

Subbarao, Sri Chaitanya College AGM stated, "The girl died by suicide in the college hostel building at around 6 am on Friday morning. With the help of our college staff, we shifted her to a nearby hospital, but couldn't save her life. It is very unfortunate to lose her. She was a good girl and but deciding to die by suicide is not a good way. She had failed in Zoology subject. But we supported her and didn't criticize her."

Reacting to the relatives' allegations, Subbarao said, "We informed her parents about the death. We didn't tear her dairy pages. It was handed over to the police. Our college is having a 1000-student strength. We support them all and guide them. Out of 1000, only eight students failed the exams. But we didn't criticize them but provided support to prepare for the supplementary exams."

Penumaluru Circle Inspector Kishore Babu claimed that the parents of the deceased did not lodge a complaint at the police station.

"The parents of the victim haven't lodged a complaint. If they lodge a complaint, we will definitely investigate the death. The diary belonging to the deceased is with us. We had collected it from her room. College staff intimated us about the death," he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)