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‘Such incidents are discouraging for girls’: Priyanka Gandhi on Sharda University student's suicide
The student's body was found in the hostel on Friday, Greater Noida ADCP Sudhir Kumar said.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Saturday reacted to the suicide of a student in Greater Noida, saying that such incidents are discouraging for girls across the country.
“First, a female student in Odisha was forced to take her own life, and now a similar tragic incident has come to light at Sharda University in Greater Noida,” Priyanka Gandhi said in a post on social media platform X.
The student's body was found in the hostel on Friday, Greater Noida ADCP Sudhir Kumar said. A day after the suicide, protests broke out in the university campus, with fellow students and the deceased's family accusing staff members of mental harassment and negligence.
Two staff members of the university have been taken into police custody for questioning, ADCP Kumar said.
Flagging concern about student's safety, Gandhi said, “Are our educational institutions not safe for our children? How will they dream of a better life in a place where life itself is not secure?”
She further said that girls face twice the struggle at every stage of life in order to progress.
Gandhi also urged the Centre to take cognisance of these cases, “ensure strict action”, and take concrete measure to prevent the recurrence of such incidents in university campuses.
Student's family alleges mental harassment by faculty
The student's family has alleged that the university faculty members had falsely accused her of forging signatures, humiliated her during classes and threatened to fail her.
The deceased's father had visited the university campus on Monday and spoken to her professor and head of department (HOD). “Later, her batchmates told us she was humiliated in class. Teachers said she was an expert at forgery and threatened to fail her,” her brother said.
Her mother, who was also protesting in the campus through Thursday night, said that she would not leave till her daughter gets justice. “Call CM Yogi and PM Modi. I’ve been sitting here since 9 pm,” the mother said, adding that she would not move from her spot.
An FIR has been registered under relevant sections on the family's complaint. “We have told the university to implement procedures to ensure such incidents don’t happen again,” ADCP Kumar said.
