Denied X-mas leave, IIIT student ends life

IIIT Nuzvid director claims that there was no pressure on the third-year student from management’s side

VIJAYAWADA: IIIT Nuzvid is in the spotlight again after a third-year student committed suicide by jumping to death from the hostel building. He was taken to hospital and after a while he was declared dead. This is the fourth such incident reported this academic year and three lives were lost on the campus reportedly due to academic stress and harassment. According to Nuzvid circle inspector M Ramkumar, the deceased student was identified as Meravath Gopichand Naik (20) and was enrolled in the Chemical Engineering course. He belongs to Chandralapadu village of Krishna district. Gopichand requested the college management for leave to visit his parents for Christmas. When they rejected his plea, he called his father Devija Naik to come campus on Thursday and talk to the director. 

However, the management allegedly failed to consider his father’s request too. “The student was reportedly upset for the past three days when he could not get permission to go home. Despite his father coming to campus to take Gopi to their native village, the college management allegedly rejected it and asked him to stay back. He was distressed and committed suicide by jumping from the hostel building,” said the CI Ramkumar. 

After knowing that his son committed suicide, Devija, who was waiting for Gopichand outside the campus, alleged that the college management could have put pressure on him to obtain higher marks. Devija is a farmer, who takes land on rent.  “I spoke to him just 10 minutes before the incident. He told me to wait outside. Minutes later, I received a phone call from the security staff that he jumped from the building. I do not know why he took this extreme step,” said Devija. 

When TNIE contacted IIIT Nuzvid director Prof V Venkata Dasu, he expressed his shock over the incident and claimed that there was no pressure on Gopichand from management’s side. “Gopichand is good in academics and secured close to 7 CPI in the last semester. Clearly, his personal problems drove him to commit suicide, as he is good at academics. His father didn’t disclose the reason yet as to what happened,” he said. 

He said that the management could have saved him if he had disclosed his problem to the college authorities. “Due to their rural background and family disputes, majority of the students feel stressed. We are conducting counselling sessions, a ‘happy Sunday’ programme and also cultural events to make the students feel relaxed,” he added.

Tale of tragedies 
This is the fourth such incident reported so far in a span of four months 
On October 10, first year PUC student Sagireddy Purna Lakshmi Narasimha Murthy committed suicide by hanging himself
On October 14, another first year PUC student D Ramadevi jumped to death from the hostel building 
On October 17, first year PUC student D Balu Vardhan attempted suicide by consuming sleeping pills
Since its inception in 2008, more than 20 students committed suicide on the college campus owing to various reasons
On charges of ragging, 54 students had been suspended from the college and have alleged that lecturers promote casteism

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com