BENGALURU: A 17-year-old II PU student died by suicide at her house in Subhashnagar in Doddaballapura rural police limits on April 4 as she was allegedly harassed and humiliated by her lecturer in front of other students in the college. Doddaballapura rural police, who had registered a case of unnatural death, have now taken up a case of abetment to suicide against the lecturer.
The victim has been identified as S Gowthami, a resident of Subhashnagar in Doddaballapura. Gowthami’s parents, who went to clean her room a few days after her death, found a note in a book on her study table.
In the note, Gowthami accused her lecturer of mentally harassing and humiliating her in front of other students. She held the lecturer responsible for her suicide. Her parents initially believed that their daughter might have taken the extreme step due to depression for which she was under treatment. However, after seeing the note, they approached the police again.
Gowthami’s father VL Somashekharaiah, who works as an assistant supervisor with a public sector company, found her dead around 5.15 pm on April 4 after returning home from office. Gowthami was alone at home that day. Her mother and elder sister had gone to their native place. Gowthami did not respond to Somashekharaiah’s calls to open the door. Suspecting something amiss, he and his neighbour broke open the door to see Gowthami hanging from a ceiling fan in her room.
“The victim was a student of a private college in Doddaballapura. In a note, she accused her lecturer of mentally harassing and humiliating her in front of other students. The victim is also said to have been suffering from depression and would keep telling her parents that she wants to end her life. She was under treatment. We are investigating if the lecturer had any role in her death,” a police officer said.
(Assistance for those having suicidal thoughts is available on helpline 104)