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LSR college student dreamt of becoming an IAS officer
The girl wrote in her suicide note that she was taking her own life because her education had become a burden for her family.
The 19-year old undergraduate student of Delhi’s Lady Shri Ram College for Women, who died by suicide at her residence in Shadnagar of Telangana’s Ranga Reddy district on the night of November 2, was a brave girl who was determined to fight against all odds to chase her dream of becoming an IAS officer, said her parents.
Her mother Sumathi Reddy, who tailors clothes for a living, told reporters that her daughter, who was pursuing second year of BSc (Honours) in Mathematics in LSR College, was compelled to take the extreme step because of the coronavirus pandemic that ruined her career and the family.
“My daughter was dreaming of becoming an IAS officer. It was precisely for this reason that she had chosen to go to Delhi to study in a prestigious institution, so that she could chase her dreams. We had high hopes from her and did our best to support her financially, though it was beyond our capacity,” Sumathi said.
The coronavirus pandemic shattered all their plans. Sumathi’s husband Srinivas Reddy, a bike mechanic, sacrificed everything for his elder daughter, right from mortgaging his home, pledging gold ornaments and even discontinuing the education of his 16-year old second daughter.
“She had come back from her college due to lockdown in March and since then, she had been staying at home. When online classes started, she was in dire need of a laptop, but we couldn’t afford it,” Sumathi said.
She said her daughter had been in a state of depression ever since she received a message from the college authorities asking her to vacate the hostel room by October end, which was later extended till November 10.
“She replied to the college authorities that she would vacate the room by November 7, but she was worried about the expenses she would incur if she had to stay in a private accommodation. We had no money even to buy a ticket for her travel, let alone pay advance for her private accommodation,” Sumati said.
Having seen her parents struggle for mobilising money, the girl took her own life. In her brief suicide note in Telugu, which was seen by HT, the girl said her education had become a burden for everybody in the family.
“I cannot live without my studies. I have been thinking about it for a long time and I felt my death is the only solution to my problem. Nobody is the reason for my death. I should have got INSPIRE scholarship for at least one year,” she said in the letter.
Her father Srinivas Reddy said she had earned the seat in LSR through merit. “Right from the beginning, she was a brilliant student and topped the school in Class 10. We tried our best to give her the best education,” she said.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi expressed shock over the suicide of the LSR student from Telangana due to poverty. “I extend my profound condolences to the family members of the student who died under unfortunate conditions,” he said in a tweet in Telugu.
He blamed it on the BJP government which he alleged had ruined the lives of several families with its measures like demonetisation and lockdown.
