Harassed by college mates,BE student commits suicide

An 18-year-old engineering student reportedly committed suicide on Tuesday over alleged harassment by her classmates and a professor at college.

Meghana C was a first-year civil engineering student of the Dayanand Sagar College of Engineering in Kumaraswamy Layout, and a resident of Dwaraka Nagar in Rajarajeshwari Nagar.

According to the police, Meghana left for college on Tuesday around 8.30 am and returned home while her parents were still at work. Her father, Chandrashekar, is a bank employee, while her mother, Latha, worked for a co-operative society.

The incident came to light when Meghana's sister Bhavana returned home from tuitions around 1 pm and found her sister's room locked from the inside. She peeped through the window and found Meghana hanging from a ceiling fan, the police said.

She informed her parents over the phone and with the help of a few neighbours broke open the door of her sister's room and brought Meghana down. But by then Meghana was dead. Meghana's parents said that their daughter was a victim of harassment in college. The harassment started in November last year.

Her classmates harassed her over a missing mobile phone, following which a professor admonished her and even counselled her, they said.

The parents also said that Meghana complained that she was treated as an outcast in the class when she contested the class representative elections. Her classmates stopped talking to her, did not share notes and even removed her from a WhatsApp group used by students to share notes, the parents said. Meghana's parents also said that they had even met her professors airing their daughter's concerns, but nothing changed.

'Was an average student'

The college principal, for his part, said Meghana was an average student. She had failed in two subjects in her first semester and was not regular throughout the second semester. A professor from the department had counselled her regarding her academics, he said. The police have registered a case of abetment to suicide and are questioning her classmates.