Greater Noida suicide: Cops allege 90-min delay in apprising helpline
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Greater Noida suicide: Cops allege 90-min delay in apprising helpline
Police say there was a 90-minute gap between the college taking the woman to the hospital and informing the police. Police said that the delay raised suspicion and caused a misunderstanding, leading to a 16-hour demonstration on the campus. Two teachers, assistant professor Shairy Vashist and associate professor Mahinder Singh Chouhan, were arrested on charges of abetment to suicide. Students to resume protest from Monday morning. There are 96 students in the BDS class and the professors (arrested) had a habit of passing comments on appearance and personal life, students said. The students also alleged that the college management took away the suicide note, which was on the table and recovered during a forensic search. The incident occurred on Friday at Sharda University in Greater Noida, India. The student, a second-year BDS student from Gurugram, allegedly died by suicide in her room, 1209(C), on the 12th floor of Mandela Hostel around 8.45 PM. Her neighbour raised the alarm after finding the body in the room.
Police said that the delay raised suspicion and caused a misunderstanding, leading to a 16-hour demonstration on the campus. Sharda University dean Dr M Siddharth did not respond to calls and messages.
A senior police officer associated with the investigation, requesting anonymity, said: “We received a memo from Sharda Hospital after 1.5 hours of the incident. By the time we reached, the deceased’s parents were already there. The 90-minute gap raised suspicion and misunderstanding, which ignited protests and allegations. The college should have alerted 112 while rushing the girl to the hospital.”
The officer said statements of seven people, including the warden, have been recorded so far.
On Friday, a second-year BDS student from Gurugram allegedly died by suicide in her room, 1209(C), on the 12th floor of Mandela Hostel around 8.45 PM. Her neighbour, the occupant of 1209(B), raised the alarm after finding the body in the room. Based on the allegations and suicide note content, police arrested two teachers, assistant professor Shairy Vashist and associate professor Mahinder Singh Chouhan, on charges of abetment to suicide.
The investigating officer said: “During the interrogation, they revealed that a few days back, they learned that the deceased had forged their signatures on a manual of dental material. Following this, they produced her before the dean and called her father.”
“It was revealed that the deceased was upset after they (professors) told her that she would face a backlog for forging their signatures. However, she refused to accept the allegations made by the professors,” the investigator said.
Batchmates of the deceased said that she denied the allegation when confronted by the professors in front of her parents. When she later approached the professors to get a manual signed, they allegedly threw it away.
Her classmate said, “On Friday, she (deceased) approached both professors (arrested) to sign the manual after her complaint on June 14. Despite this, they threw the manual at her and refused to do so. Manuals, a brief of the assignment, are important for us as we will show them during the practical exam that will start at the end of July. Our annual exam will start from July 22.”
Students also alleged that the college management took away the suicide note.
A student, on the condition of anonymity, said, “As the warden came to know that the girl who discovered her body had recovered the suicide note, they took her to an office and snatched the note. When the seniors came to know about the note, they forcefully entered the office and clicked a photo of the note, which went viral.”
However, police denied the allegation and said the note was on the table and recovered during a forensic search.
Investigators also said that the deceased did not have any backlog before the one imposed due to alleged forgery. “No, she didn’t (any prior backlog). We have recorded the statements of the deceased’s friends and family members, and all the allegations are being investigated thoroughly,” the officer said.
In a statement on Sunday, Sharda University said they have formed a five-member internal committee headed by the pro-vice-chancellor to conduct an inquiry and submit a report within five days.
Greater Noida, additional deputy commissioner of police, Sudhir Kumar said, “The case is under investigation, and more arrests could be possible if any other name comes up during the investigation. We are also waiting for the college internal report that will be submitted in five days.”
Students to resume protest
Students said that after police action on Saturday, they have decided to resume the protest from Monday morning.
“As the protest was curbed by police on Saturday, we have decided to hold a protest at the dental department on Monday, around 8am. We are also planning to conduct a candle march on Monday,” said a second batchmate of the deceased.
“There are 96 students in the BDS class, and the professors (arrested) had a habit of passing comments on appearance and personal life. We observed that she (deceased) was being targeted by professors for the past few days,” the student said.
Discussing suicides can be triggering for some. However, suicides are preventable. A few major suicide prevention helpline numbers in India are 011-23389090 from Sumaitri (Delhi-based) and 044-24640050 from Sneha Foundation (Chennai-based).