“My daughter used to speak to her mother every night around 11–11.30 pm about how her day was. She never spoke about any problems with a man. When I met her last, over a month ago, she was smiling like she always does,” recalled Rajkumar Chaurasiya, father of 21-year-old Sneha Chaurasiya, who was shot dead, allegedly by her classmate, Anuj Kumar, on Thursday, 18 May.
The incident took place at the Shiv Nadar University in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida. The accused later shot himself too. A day after the incident, The Quint spoke to Sneha's heartbroken father about his daughter.
‘How Did He Have a Weapon Inside the University?’: Father
"How is it that a student was roaming around with a weapon like that inside the university? It is such a big and renowned university... This should not have happened," said Sneha's father Rajkumar. As per the police, Anuj allegedly killed Sneha with a country-made pistol outside the university’s dining hall and then shot himself in his room.
Hours before the incident, Anuj allegedly emailed a 23-minute-long purported video to some of his classmates, in which he claimed to be in a relationship with Sneha. In the video, he claimed that Sneha broke up with him and that he could not accept that. In the purported video, he also claimed, "She complained about me to the Dean's office. I shared my story when I was called to the office. I think they believed me but they did not do anything about it.”
Meanwhile, Sneha's father told The Quint,
The scandal is one-sided. She was doing fine, and her behaviour was normal. He ruined her life... And an entire family.”Rajkumar Chaurasiya, Sneha's father
Sneha is survived by her parents, and used to stay in Kanpur with her parents and other relatives till she started studying at the Shiv Nadar University in Greater Noida.
Outside the post-mortem house in Noida on Friday, Sneha's uncle, Manish Chaurasiya, said, "We received a call from her college yesterday saying that she had an accident. We got worried and left immediately. When we reached, we learned that our child was no more... She had been shot dead and that a weapon was used."
He added, "The college took our child away. We demand a proper a proper investigation into the matter."
‘She Was Talented, Used to Dance, Participate in College Programmes’
Sneha was a third-year student who was pursuing Bachelor of Arts (Sociology). Anuj, who was originally from UP’s Amroha, was studying the same course as Sneha. Her father said that Sneha had never mentioned anything about Anuj.
Tearing up as he spoke about his daughter, Rajkumar said, “She was a dancer. She learnt dance from an academy in Lucknow. She was good at athletics too. She used to win awards and medals in athletics such as high jump.”
There were times when she used to host cultural programmes in college. People in the university liked her a lot. Last year, Kapil Dev had visited the college, and she was one of the organisers of the event.Rajkumar Chaurasiya, Sneha's father
Sneha's father said that she was a bright student.
“When she got admission into the university, everyone was very happy. She would have graduated soon. She was already doing an internship and she wanted to get a job right after that,” said Rajkumar.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)