BENGALURU: A 23-year-old dental student of The Oxford Dental College located at Bommanahalli on Hosur Road died by suicide at her residence in Head Master Layout in Chandapura on Thursday. The victim’s mother alleged that it was due to harassment and torture by a lecturer. The woman has also held the college principal responsible.
The victim, B Yashaswini, has left a death note but did not blame anyone. She was studying in the third year in the Oral Medicine and Radiology Department. She was the only daughter of Boodevaiah and Parimala. The incident came to light around 8 pm on Thursday.
Due to a problem with her eyes, she had not attended the classes on Wednesday. “On Thursday, a lecturer allegedly harassed and humiliated her in front of others.
The lecturer is said to have made fun of her eye problem by asking if she had applied the whole bottle of eye drops. She was very good in her studies and hardly slept as she had so much to study. The college staff should have called me instead of harassing my daughter. My daughter was very sensitive,” Parimala said.
She, along with a group of her daughter’s classmates and other students, staged a protest on Friday outside the college hospital’s mortuary where the postmortem was conducted. She also insisted that the college principal come to the mortuary.
The students who demanded justice said that one of them might be the next victim. There were allegations that the victim was reportedly deprived of the chance of attending seminars and the non-allocation of case work pertaining to radiology. The victim is said to have been upset about this, as it would affect her marks.
The Surya City police have registered a case of unnatural death. “Since the victim has not blamed anybody, we have not registered a case against anybody from the college. If we get information, then the case will be registered,” said an officer.
(If you are having suicidal thoughts, or are worried about a friend or need emotional support, someone is always there to listen. Call Sneha Foundation - 04424640050, Tele Manas - 14416 (available 24x7) or iCall, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences' helpline - 02225521111, which is available Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 10 pm.)