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Punjab: Protests at Lovely Professional University after student’s suicide
The incident triggered massive protests at the varsity campus on Tuesday night, prompting police to rush to the spot to maintain law and order. The professor, who has been named in the suicide notes, has been booked on charges of abetment to suicide, police said.
A 21-year-old student at Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Punjab’s Phagwara died by suicide on Tuesday afternoon and blamed a professor of his previous institute in purported suicide notes for his death, police said on Wednesday.
The incident triggered massive protests at the varsity campus on Tuesday night, prompting police to rush to the spot to maintain law and order. The professor, who has been named in the suicide notes, has been booked on charges of abetment to suicide, police added.
Providing details, additional director general of police (law and order) Arpit Shukla said the student took his life at the hostel on Tuesday afternoon.
Three purported suicide notes recovered from the spot named Professor Krishna Prasad, director of National Institute of Technology (NIT), Calicut. The deceased had studied for two years in the Kerala institute, the officer said.
In the suicide notes, the student blamed the Kerala professor for “emotionally manipulating him into quitting NITC”.
“I blame Prof. Prasad Krishna for emotionally manipulating me into quitting NITC. I regret my decision so much, I’m being a burden to everyone. I’m sorry but this is it,” the purported suicide note said.
In the remaining two notes, the deceased described his family’s poor financial condition and urged LPU to refund his entire fees. HT has seen the suicide notes.
Shukla said the case has been handed over to Phagwara superintendent of police Mukhtiar Rai, who will conduct the probe under the supervision of SSP Kapurthala, deputy inspector general of police, Jalandhar range.
All angles will be probed. The professor has been booked under section 306 (abetment to suicide) of Indian Penal Code at Phagwara police station in Kapurthala district, Shukla said.
While the professor could not be reached for a response, NIT Calicut is yet to react on the matter.
The LPU, meanwhile, expressed grief over the student’s death. “Because of the lack of information, there was a misunderstanding among other fellow students on Tuesday that led to unrest on the university campus late evening. Police and university authorities have clarified the whole situation to the students. Now there is calm in the university, all students are now peacefully attending the classes as well as taking examinations,” it said in a statement.
Ruling Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha member Ashok Mittal is the varsity’s chancellor.
The incident comes close on the heels of protests at Chandigarh University in Mohali over allegations by students that a hosteller had recorded several objectionable videos of women students in the common washroom.
