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Days after Odisha teen’s death, police say early to conclude what drove her to suicide
Her father, an economics teacher at a local college, said he bought her books shortly before her death as she was preparing for civil services examinations
When a 19-year-old left her home in Odisha’s Cuttack last month for her college in Bhubaneswar after the summer break, little did her family think they were seeing her for the last time. Her body was found in her hostel room 11 days later on July 2 after police broke its bolted door. By the time she was rushed to a hospital, she was dead. A handwritten note recovered from her pocket blamed her seniors for torturing her and pushing her to suicide.
Her father, an economics teacher at a local college, said he bought her books shortly before her death as she was preparing for civil services examinations. “She wanted to become a district collector. She was determined about cracking the civil services exam. I had pinned lots of hope on her,” said the father.
The note said she was tired. “My parents have toiled hard for my higher education. But my seniors tortured me a lot. I felt all the expenditure on me by my parents mattered little. Neither could I tolerate it nor could I tell anyone at home. Everyone at home - my parents, uncles and aunts, grandparents - loved me. My parents hoped that I would become a collector. But the seniors made me depressed.”
The note said most people thought there was no ragging in the college. “But three of my seniors could not let me stay in peace. I am forced to end my life...” She did not name the three.
The suicide triggered protests as political parties and student organisations sought action over the alleged ragging. Her parents have staged a sit-in outside the college gate since Sunday seeking action against the accused. Police have lodged a case of abetment to suicide and interrogated over 100 students.
Laxmidhar Bhola, the head of the history department at the college, said the 19-year-old was diligent and scored nearly 90% in internal examinations.
Her friends described her as an introvert who kept to herself. “...whenever I saw her, she would be busy with books,” said a classmate.
Her father said studying late into midnight was a routine for her. “...she took offline [Class 12] examination as she thought the internal assessments did not reflect her true potential. She scored 86% which helped her get admission to the Bhubaneswar college . She was too focused on her academics to end her life like this. Had I known that my daughter was being tortured in her hostel, I would have taken her out.”
Police said it is too early to reach a conclusion about what drove the teenager to suicide. “As she has not named anyone in the note, it is a challenge for us. A team has also met her friends and family members. We hope to reach a conclusion in the case,” said deputy police commissioner Prateek Singh.
Some classmates, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the teenager may have been humiliated more than once. “When the Class 12 students of the hostel were being given a farewell couple of months ago, she was supposed to dance. But two seniors objected to it and the farewell function could not happen,” said a student.
Some students said they shifted to private hostels after they faced ragging. “Ragging exists in our college and students do get affected. It is another matter that no one talks much about it as the college is a reputed institution,” said an undergraduate student.
The teenager’s sister said she was teased saying “look, the collector is coming” as she was preparing for civil services. “When she came home during vacation last month, she told my grandmother that some seniors were harassing her. When my grandmother asked her to inform her parents, she said she will not talk about it.”
Niranjan Mishra, the college principal, said there was no ragging since the anti-ragging cells were started a decade ago. “Any student can register a ragging complaint with the cell or on the UGC [University Grants Commission] helpline or by mailing the complaint. We are yet to get any complaint,” said Mishra.
Jhumkri Rath, the hotel superintendent, said all newcomers were sensitised on not tolerating ragging and to reach out to her or other college authorities if they were ragged. “In our college, students are vocal about any form of harassment. So, it is difficult to believe that there is ragging,” said Rath.
According to the UGC, Odisha reported 60 cases of ragging in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
In April, a first-year medical student in Balangir died by suicide after he was allegedly tortured by seniors. A second-year medical student in Berhampur accused a senior house surgeon of slapping him repeatedly and torturing him mentally in May. An inquiry committee found the surgeon guilty and barred him from entering the hostels. In September last year, 12 students of a university in Sambalpur were rusticated for assaulting a third-year student. In 2019, the same university fined 52 students for ragging 50 juniors.
Rajinder Kachroo, who played a key role in getting ragging banned after his son died because of it, said UGC’s anti-ragging helpline seems to have failed to deliver in the post-Covid period. “I am again seeing resurgence of ragging in medical colleges. An educational institution is a mini-community with its own culture and social hierarchy.”
He cited research and said it has shown that violence and abuse in institutions is partly the creation of the system that gives tacit acceptance to abusive practices by turning a blind eye. “What is fun to one person can mean ragging to another and institutions have to draw a red line to stop it. But in most colleges, the anti-ragging cells are only on paper and students do not muster courage to report such issues,” said Kachroo.
