WARANGAL: Was M Madhuri, the first-year engineering student of NIT-Warangal who committed suicide on August 26, a victim of ragging? Yes, say her family members and friends. But the NIT authorities and the police differ, stating that they did not find any evidence of ragging that could be linked to her death.
Mystery shrouds the death of Madhuri who committed suicide by jumping off the five-storeyed hostel building at the National Institution of Technology in Warangal on August 26. She breathed her last while being rushed to hospital. Even as the police are probing various aspects of the incident as to whether it was a suicide or a murder and the possible reasons for it, Madhuri’s parents and friends firmly believe ragging to be the reason.
“My daughter was very strong-willed and was not the one to commit suicide that easily. We have our own doubts and want the police to unravel the reasons that led to my daughter’s death,” Madhuri’s father M Mohan Rao, a naval technology engineer, told the police authorities when they visited him in Visakhapatnam recently as part of the investigation. He is reportedly of the view that there could be a strong reason if his daughter was forced to commit suicide.
Students at NIT also expressed similar views when Express inquired into the incident. According to them, an anonymous letter had been dropped in the complaints box on the campus about 10 days before the death of Madhuri. The letter reportedly complained that ragging was becoming rampant on the campus. The NIT authorities launched an investigation into it but stopped it abruptly stating that there was no proof that ragging was rampant on the campus and also failed to trace out the mailer.
It is learnt that NIT officials decided to keep mum on their findings as it would ruin the reputation of the institute which enjoys popularity at the national level. “There are about 850 students on the campus and it is difficult to track each one of them in every nook and corner of the campus to curb ragging. Seniors get away with ‘ragging’ as they corner juniors after planning meticulously and claim that it was just an introduction meet,” revealed a student on the condition of anonymity.
While the police admit that it was students who wrote the letter, they too have failed to trace out its original mailer. The police have already quizzed Madhuri’s friends and seniors apart from checking her cellphone calls in this regard but in vain. “Though we could not find any lead to unravel the mystery behind Madhuri’s death, we are doubtful about ragging. But the investigation is on and all aspects of the case will be probed,” said Kazipet circle inspector of police Vijayasarathi. On the other hand, NIT-Warangal director T Srinivas Rao refused to speak on the issue stating that the case was under investigation.