Phagwara: A mix of students from all over the country and hands-on learning seemed to be the perfect environment for one 20-year-old science student from Andhra Pradesh enrolled at Punjab’s Lovely Professional University (LPU). But as the months went by, a nagging pattern of suicide rumours emerged. The murmurs wouldn’t stop.
Worse, there was never any official confirmation or news reports. “There were no condolence messages on official groups or notice boards, just whispers that floated around the campus,” he told ThePrint, preferring to stay anonymous.
This string of suicides theory hasn’t escaped the notice of Punjab Police. Investigators have begun collating a detailed list of all alleged student suicides, a senior officer aware of the matter said. “We are recording statements of all students who have raised allegations of witnessing or learning about student suicides inside the campus. We are also noting all cases of deaths by suicides outside campus but with connection to the college.”
The officer added that the Punjab Police recorded several statements Monday, and is in the process of contacting families of those alleged to have died by suicide. “Each case will be separately investigated by our teams and reports will be prepared.”
According to police sources, the Kapurthala Police district, under whose jurisdiction LPU falls, does not at present have a list of LPU students who allegedly died by suicide. “We have case details of some of the cases where the university informed us but the students have alleged more cases, so we are trying to ascertain the details,” the officer quoted earlier said.
The rumour mill at LPU hasn’t paused, though. Just 20 days ago, says the student from Andhra Pradesh, a friend told him that he had witnessed a boy in 57 block die by suicide.
“The body of the student disappeared quickly, like the ones before him did,” he claimed.
That alleged subterfuge is almost a trope on campus. “The authorities first quickly move out the bodies without any noise and then send their roommates home for a few days. In exchange for silence, they offer the roommates good grades and cushy placements,” the student further alleged, while speaking to ThePrint.
Matters came to a head on 26 and 27 September, when students gathered to demand justice after an alleged sexual assault on a female student by a construction worker.
Anger, frustration and desperation found an outlet. Many of the students ThePrint spoke to in LPU said there was little to no space for complaints or to seek accountability.
Taking cognisance of the protest and comments of students on feeling unheard, LPU Pro Chancellor Dr Rashmi Mittal said that the “university authorities and students share a bond of trust and cooperation akin to families”.
“What happened is so unfortunate but the students at LPU have so many channels like the RMS, student relationship cells and special sessions especially with me. If they were feeling so demoralised then why did they not bring it to us. They just believed in social media rumours and that is bad,” she said in a video.
ThePrint independently reached out to Dr Sorabh Lakhanpal, Executive Dean (Student Welfare Wing) and Head (LPU Media and PR) for a comment on the students’ allegations via email, as well as LPU owner Ashok Mittal’s team for comment over calls. This report will be updated if and when their responses are received.
Also Read: From tiny B-school to 35,000-student university. LPU, the education empire built on an ad blitz
A pattern at LPU?
Another student, standing beside NH44 in wait for a local auto rickshaw, broke into sarcastic laughter when asked about the latest case. “I do not know the details of the case or the investigation, but inside our college campus, far too many suicide cases take place,” she said on condition of anonymity.
No one seemed certain of the details of the cases, yet almost every student had a suicide story to tell. None of these accounts could be independently substantiated.
A second-year LPU student, she alleged that a student was reported to have died by suicide in girl’s hostel (GH) 509 or 510 earlier this year. “I don’t remember her room number, but I had heard about her death from a friend who lived in the same GH. None of her friends were given a moment to say goodbye to her or offer prayers. Overnight the body was removed and her roommates sent home.”
The Andhra student quoted earlier alleged that when the authorities learnt about his friend being a witness to the incident he recounted, their first “move” was “intimidation”.
“They called him and enquired all that he witnessed. Then they suggested that my friend (witness) should go home for a few days and that he should not worry about grades,” he said. However, the list of instructions did not end there, he went on. “They then threatened him that if he spoke about the incident to anyone, there would be dire consequences, including non-participation in placements.”
A system designed to suppress?
Speaking to ThePrint, another first year female student said that many of these cases are brushed under the carpet as students around those who die by suicide fear the “UMC”, or the University Management Case, that governs student life on campus.
“If you take drugs or commit any legitimate offence, the university books you under the relevant sections of the UMC. However, if you go against them, in any capacity, the university has the power to book you under UMC as well,” the female student said. “This would entail losing one’s scholarship, suspension, sustained counselling sessions or being disbarred from participating in the placement rounds,” she alleged.
No space to raise issues
The UMC sword over students is no outlier; the Relationship Management System (RMS) is practically inefficient too, students complain. “I had raised a complaint about a professor in the biotechnology department for his unfairness. Instead of investigating, they shared my ID number with the complaint details with the same professor. This system entails that students get harassed by the same people they seek justice against,” the female student said.
A 21-year-old male student told ThePrint that while joining LPU, he was quite impressed by the flashing of the grievance redressal system on the website, but when he needed help, he learnt how the IDs of students are shared, even in sexual harassment cases.
“A senior of mine had sexually harassed me and though I wanted to raise a complaint I learnt that the mechanism gives away one’s anonymity and shares ID numbers with the person you raise a complaint about,” he said. Feeling more threatened than helped by the process, the student says he just didn’t seek redressal.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
Also Read: Charred buildings, broken tiles, anxious students: Inside LPU after its traumatic night of violence