A first-year MBBS student, belonging to the Dalit community, died by suicide in his hostel room at Firozabad Medical College (Autonomous State Medical College Society) in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, reports said.
The 21-year-old student, Shailendra Kumar, hailing from Kaushalya Nagar in Firozabad, was found hanging in his hostel room.
Reports said that the student didn't turn up for an exam on Saturday. His friends went to his hostel room to check why he had not appeared for the exam and found it locked from the inside. They broke open the door and found him hanging. He was rushed to a hospital but to no avail.
The students of the college blocked the National Highway near the district hospital in Firozabad demanding justice for the victim. They accused the principal of the college, the hostel warden among others for abetting the suicide.
The student's kin claimed that he was harassed by the college administration since he was a Dalit. The student had informed his parents several times about the harassment. The victim's father, according to a report, said that his son was vocal against the college administration over irregularities and lack of basic facilities in the college. The college administration threatened to suspend him. He was also not allowed to sit for the Physiology exam on Saturday morning. Shortly thereafter he resorted to the extreme step.
The victim's father was quoted in a report as saying that the college even refused to provide an ambulance to take his son to the hospital. Finally, he was taken on a motorcycle.
Police have registered a case and are investigating.