BENGALURU: A 26-year-old student from Azim Premji University (APU) collapsed on Friday during a college festival, leading to allegations that the incident may have been caused by ongoing protests.
Abhijit Shinde, a first-year Masters’ student at APU, collapsed during a college event on Friday. Offering condolences, APU said, “It is with profound sorrow that we inform you that Abhijit Shinde, one of our first-year students in the MA Development programmes passed away this afternoon. The university is in touch with his family. We express our deepest condolences to his family and friends.”
The university said the incident took place during the inaugural event of a festival, when he was dancing. “When the student collapsed while performing, the campus doctor attended to him immediately and found no pulse; he was shifted to the nearest hospital in an ambulance. He was declared dead on arrival,” they said.
In the meantime, the protest ended on the APU campus, with students considering to go on with the hunger strike, which began on February 22, demanding shuttle fee be waived. The university said they are willing to waive the fees of those students who are financially weak, and include it in the scholarship of students who have a 100 per cent scholarship.
However, it has been alleged that Shinde’s death is connected to the protests. Many students said Shinde had taken part in the hunger strike, which the university denied. “The deceased student was not on hunger strike on February 23 or 24. He had left the ‘protest’, which was being staged by a small group of students,” they said.