V Raveendra Kumar, father of V Ajaya Sree Chandra (21), a student of Indian Institute of Science who committed suicide recently, has alleged that harassment by guides had driven his son to take the extreme step.

Kumar has written letters to Sadashivanagar Police, Deputy Commissioner, Commissioner of Police and Inspector General of Police (Directorate of Civil Rights Enforcement) seeking stringent action against the guilty. Speaking to Deccan Herald, Kumar alleged that his son had ended life due to mental torture at the hands of his guides, he claimed.

“My son’s guides continuously harassed him. They often rejected his projects though they were superior compared to other students’. Despite his best efforts, his projects failed. My son often shared his mental torture with me and said that his lab was a “hell”. However, I used to convince him and encourage him to perform better,” he said.

He also claimed that his son had left a suicide note, which ran into pages. “Shockingly, it was missing when I reached Bangalore. Even his friends told me that there was a suicide note. He must have mentioned the reason,” Kumar added. However, he did not mention the names of those who allegedly harassed his son.

Ajaya Sree Chandra, a native of Hyderabad and a third semester Integrated PhD student of Biological Sciences, hanged himself in his hostel room on August 27, 2007. The police booked a case of unnatural death and it was believed that the victim had committed suicide due to pressure from his parents.

Sadashivanagar police said Kumar had approached them seeking an inquiry into the incident. According to the post-mortem report, Ajaya died due to suffocation.