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Uttarakhand: Junior doctor's suicide at medical college sparks harassment charges
The 26-year-old junior doctor at the Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical and Health Sciences in Dehradun was found dead inside his hostel room on May 17.
The death of a junior doctor by suicide at a college hostel in Dehradun has triggered a massive uproar in Uttarakhand. The 26-year-old paediatric student at the Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical and Health Sciences was found dead inside his hostel room on May 17.
Launching a massive campaign on social media, the student's family and friends have alleged that harassment by his professors and long working hours forced him to commit suicide.
His thesis was rejected by a professor some days ago, reported India Today.
The doctor's father blamed the college's management committee and three people, specifically, for his son's suicide. Based on the father's complaint, the police filed an FIR against Dr Utkarsh Sharma, head of department of Paediatrics, as well as professors Ashish Sethi and Bindu Agarwal under section 306 of the IPC in connection with the suicide case.
“My son joined college in October 2023. A few days later, Utkarsh Sharma, Ashish Sethi, Bindu Agrawal and the management committee started harassing him. They made him work 36-hour shifts even with a 104-degree fever. My son told me, 'Utkarsh Sharma rejected my thesis twice and demanded 500,000 rupees for passing. He insulted me in front of patients, and Bindu Agrawal mentally tortured me',” the father alleged, as quoted by India Today.
"He had called me at 10 am on the morning of May 17 and said, 'take me away, or I'll commit suicide'. We assured him that we would come to get him the next day and urged him not to take any wrong step," the father added.
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The father said he received a call on May 17 night allegedly from Utkarsh Sharma, who informed him about his son being admitted to the emergency ward. He claimed he received another call at about 10:40 pm, informing him that his son's body was in the mortuary. Alleging conspiracy, the victim's father claimed when he reached for his son, students told him that the lights of his hostel room were switched off for 15-20 minutes and cleaned up.
Amid the social media uproar, the college's management said they have demanded an impartial probe into the matter and are cooperating with the police investigation. The management has demanded an enquiry from all angles, including investigation of phone call records, WhatsApp chats, and social media activities of the deceased.
