It’s been just two days since Mounika, a student in Sathyabama University, Chennai took her own life after she was caught allegedly cheating in the semester examination. While students are still coping with the loss, online trolls, fake news and offensive memes have seemingly attempted to obscure facts and tarnish her image, as well as that of other students and the university.
Social media pages began spreading rumours that the college management was trying to cover up the issue by pushing stories that the girl was pregnant and had been abusing substances, some of which were even picked up and reported by media outlets.
A student reached out to The Quint wanting to dispel these rumours and explain what really happened that day.
Sunil (name changed), a student of the University, narrates the timeline:
On 22 November, Mounika was writing her Chemistry exam. At around 9:30 am, she was caught cheating by the invigilator. She was taken to the Head of Department who said she would have to repeat her exams as per their rules against malpractice.
Upset with herself, she went back to her hostel. Since the exam was going on, no one was in the hostel premises. Her twin brother was also in the examination hall and when he stepped out of the hall and checked his phone, he was shocked.
She had recorded a video while cutting herself and talking to her brother, saying, “I am sorry. I will miss you. I apologise to our parents.”
Her brother ran to the hostel and after showing the video to security, hostel authorities rushed to check on her. She was found hanging from the ceiling.
She was taken to the hospital on campus but she was weak and her pulse rate was very low. In a critical condition, there wasn’t much that the senior doctor could do.
The parents were informed and her body was taken to the Royapettah Government Hospital.
Soon, the news spread and what started with a group of 4 students became a revolt of sorts.
Some second-year students encouraged them, saying such riots have happened earlier as well on campus. This was like adding petrol to fire. Literally.Sunil
They set fire to wooden logs, tube lights were broken, windows shattered and the library was damaged.
There is a lot of rage and depression among students regarding the various strict rules in the university - the way the warden and other hostel authorities treat us, the need for permissions for everything, separating girls and boys for all activities. And there is no easy platform to reach out to the management to resolve student issues.Sunil
Sunil also clarified that, contrary to media reports, the management and faculty were at the institution all along and were conducting an inquiry inside the girls' hostel. When they heard the commotion and saw fires break out at different parts of the campus, they were puzzled as to how the issue managed to escalate that quickly.
These students were not aware that the night drama would snowball into a massive issue, attracting cameras and TV channels to the gates the next day.
To maintain calm, the university shut the college till 2 June and students were sent home.
The students hoped the outrage would help them connect with the management but the number of memes and fake news that were circulated muddied the waters. Sunil claims that several media houses like Sakshi TV and News X also blamed the university for harassing the student, while he says the college was only doing its duty.
The Quint reached out to college authorities and are awaiting a response.
Experts believe that with more cases of student suicides surfacing, it is imperative that institutions have a psychologist on campus who gives regular counselling to students. The students too must be encouraged to reach out to each other and emboldened to ‘speak up’ rather than bottle up their anxieties.
As emotions still run high on campus with the furore yet to die down, this student has just one appeal to make:
Dear media, please get your facts right before reporting. There’s more than what meets the eye.
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