Dalit Student Commits Suicide, Couldn't Cope With the Examination Pressure, Claim Students

A Dalit student from Sagar University, a central university from Madhya Pradesh, was found hanging from the ceiling of the Tagore Campus hostel on Friday evening. The deceased, Deversh Bagri, belonged to Santa district of the state. According to the students, Sagar might have committed suicide because he was tense about the new examination pattern introduced by the administration.

“According to the new pattern, students were supposed to write four papers in a day. He was very depressed because of this, and was looking for ways to cope with it,” said Lucky, a university student.

As per the sources, the students in the university have been protesting for a long time against the new pattern of examination. “Many students have been requesting the administration to change this pattern, as they won’t be able to prepare for four exams in one day. But the administration has been stubborn, and they have not been listening to their demands,” said a student. 

A student claimed that Bagri was not allowed to finish his paper. “His paper was snatched by the invigilator because he had mistakenly carried his phone inside the hall. He requested the examiner to let him continue, but the invigilator threatened to file a complaint. This incident made him very anxious, and he stopped talking to all of us. A few hours later, we found him hanging from the ceiling,” said a PhD student on the basis of anonymity.

The hospital refused to give emergency care?

According to the students, when they reached Deversh’s room, he was still breathing. “We rushed him to the university hospital, but it was closed. Then we took him to the Bundelkhand Medical College, but the doctors in the hospital refused to treat him. They wanted us to lodge a complaint first. We had an argument with the hospital authorities when we asked them to give him the emergency care, but they refused and meanwhile, he died,” said a PhD student on the basis of anonymity.

After his death, nearly 100 students from the university gathered outside the hospital, and protested against the hospital authorities. “As we were protesting, a few students from the Budelkhand medical hostel, on the instructions of the hospital authorities, came and thrashed us,” said one of the university students.  Meanwhile, police had reportedly reached the spot. 

Lathi charge for demanding justice?

“We didn’t beat anyone, we were just protesting. We had lost our dear friend because of their rudeness and mistake. They could have taken him to the emergency care, meanwhile, we would have done the police work. The police came and launched a lathi charge, injuring almost 50-70 students. We don’t know on whose instructions the police did this, but we were brutally beaten up with sticks, and many students have received grave injuries including facture on the head,” said another student.

One of the students, who did not want to be named, claimed that he was brutally beaten up. “No reason was given, and we were beaten mercilessly,” he said. Meanwhile, many students have reportedly left the university after this incident, and have gone home. “Students are afraid, as the police are harassing students, and are threatening them,” alleged the student.
Newsclick tried reaching the university administration for comments, but couldn’t get through.