Father alleges caste bias in AIIMS suicide
Gulab Chand Ahirwal (52) is a long way from home but he is a man on a mission. A mission to secure justice for his son who he strongly believes was a victim of caste bias at one of the premier medical institutes in the country.
Gulab Chand Ahirwal (52) is a long way from home but he is a man on a mission.
A mission to secure justice for his son who he strongly believes was a victim of caste bias at one of the premier medical institutes in the country.
His son Bal Mukund Bharti, a final-year medical student at AIIMS, was allegedly found hanging in his hostel room. Bharti’s father, believing that there was foul play involved and the case was covered up, wants to register a complaint against the AIIMS authorities.
“I will get a case registered with the police. I am sure that my son would not have committed suicide had it not been for the professor who pushed him over the edge.”
Bharti came from a family of daily wage earners and was good in studies. “They snatched away our family’s only hope.” He alleged that one of his professors was intentionally failing him in his exams because he belonged to a backward caste.
The AIIMS authorities, however, deny the allegation. “Bal Mukund Bharti is a great loss to the institute. We do not believe there was any caste discrimination during the exams,” said Y.K. Gupta, spokesman, AIIMS.
Police are waiting for AIIMS to look into the allegations. “AIIMS authorities are conducting an enquiry into the matter. We are still waiting for their report,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) H.G.S. Dhaliwal.
“My son was a good student. He passed in all his other exams except one. Every year he was failing in one subject. I believe he was being targeted because of his caste,” said Ahirwal.
On March 3, Bharti (24) was found hanging in room number 22, hostel-II, at AIIMS. Before his death he had appeared for the compartment exam. Bharti had reportedly failed to clear it two years in a row.
Police said Bharti was in depression and three days before he hanged himself, he had tried to kill himself by consuming poison. “He was saved by his friends,” said a police officer.
The police blamed the AIIMS authorities for negligence as they should have taken care of the student after his first attempted to commit suicide and should not have been left alone.