A 21-year-old student at Hyderabad’s Osmania University allegedly killed himself on Sunday, 3 December, by hanging, the police said.
The body of E Murali, a first-year student of MSc Physics, was allegedly found hanging in the washroom of one of the hostels on the campus on the evening of 3 December. A suicide note was found with him, apparently written by him, stating that he didn’t want to fail his exams, a senior Osmania University police official said.
Protests led by students broke out soon after. The police blocked all entry points into the varsity, directing all traffic from Tarnaka towards Sitaphalmandi road, reported The Times of India.
The police also increased their presence in the university, in an attempt to keep students off the streets. They also detained several protesting students. The administration of the university postponed all classes and examinations which were scheduled to be held on 5 and 6 December.
A large number of students had gathered near the hostel and staged a protest refusing to allow the body to be shifted.
We suspect that the student committed suicide due to unemployment. The Telangana government’s delay in releasing job notifications led to his depression, due to which he committed suicide.Manavatha Roy, president of Osmania University (OU) Joint Action Committee, to The Times of India
Roy also demanded Rs 50 lakh ex-gratia to be paid to the kin of the deceased by the state government, reported PTI.
As per a video, which is going viral on Twitter, police forces allegedly barged into the hostel rooms of some of the students and beat them up.
On Monday, 4 December, the Osmania University Teachers Association issued a statement which condemned the way the university administration was handling the situation.
According to Times of India, the statement read: When the situation was tense in Osmania University, teachers were kept in dilemma whether to conduct the practical examinations or not on December 4 since there was no communication from the authorities. Instead of reviewing the situation, the authorities were busy in science congress meeting held at a hotel in Begumpet.
(With inputs from PTI)
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