Engineering student ends life after being harassed in College

Bengaluru: An 18-year-old engineering student allegedly committed suicide at her residence on Tuesday over harassment by her classmates and a professor at college.

The deceased has been identified as Meghana, a first year civil engineer student of the Dayanand Sagar of Engineering in Kumaraswamy Layout. She resides at of Dwaraka Nagar in Rajarajeshwari Nagar. Meghana’s father Chandrashekar is a bank employee and visually impaired man and her mother Latha worked at a co-operative society.

Meghana left for college on Tuesday as usual and returned home while her parents were still at work. The incident came to light when Meghana’s sister Bhavana returned back home from tuitions at 1 pm and found her sister’s room locked from inside. She knocked the room door but was unanswered. Suspicious Bhavana peeped through the window to find he sister hanging from the ceiling fan.

An 18-year-old engineering student reportedly committed suicide on Tuesday over alleged harassment by her classmates and a professor at college. She immediately called her parents and sought help from the neighbours to break open the door. They brought down Meghana but by then she was dead.

On enquiry, the parents revealed to the police that Meghana was being harassed in college. The harassment started in November 2017. They said that Meghana’s classmates were harassing her over a missing cell phone following which a professor warned and counselled her.

The parents also said that Meghana complained of being treated as an outsider in the class when she contested the class representative elections. She was insulted throughout for her defeat in the elections. Her classmates stopped talking to her, did not share notes and even removed her from a WhatsApp group used by students in the class to share notes and information. Meghana’s parents also said that they had even met her professors expressing their daughter’s anxiety, but received no response.

On asking the college principle, he said that Meghana was an average student. She had failed in two subjects in her first semester and was not regular throughout the second semester. A professor from the department had counselled her regarding her academics, he added. Denying that it was a case of ragging, college principal C.P.S. Prakash said that the institution has an anti-ragging committee and Meghana never approached it.

Rajarajeshwarinagar Police have registered a case of abetment to suicide and are questioning her classmates. Further investigation is still in progress.

Chandrashekar, the head of the family donated the eyes of their daughter despite being partially blind.