A tragedy stuck Bharati College on Wednesday when an 18-year-old BA Programme second year allegedly committed suicide by consuming pesticide in the college’s washroom. No suicide note was recovered from the victim and the police is still investigating the case.
The Hindustan Times reported that the police control room received a call at 9:50 a.m. regarding a suicide in the college. A police team was rushed to the campus who found the student, identified as Vicky Kumari, unconscious inside a toilet which was bolted from inside. She was taken to Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital where doctors declared her brought dead. One of the student wen
“A bottle of pesticide was found in the toilet. We checked her bag and found a small knife that was used for cutting paper. Neither the student’s mobile nor suicide note was not found,” said Mr. Vijay Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (West). “We searched her house but found nothing useful. Her cell phone call records are being analysed,” he added.
According to the college authorities, the victim had reached college around 8:30 a.m. as she had to attend her 9 a.m. class. She later went to the toilet but didn’t return which prompted her classmates to check on her. They raised an alarm when the victim didn’t respond to the knocks on the washroom door.
Her mother, subsequent to the reception of this unexpected news lost her consciousness and was taken to the hospital for first aid. The College Principal has issued a statement on the college website.
In the light of this tragedy, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad led Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) has proposed Wellness Cells in all Delhi University Colleges that will be primarily dedicated to the mental health of the students. They have also demanded a proper check or a survey initiated by the DU administration on the availability and appointments of professional counselors in DU.
Speaking to DU Beat, Mahamedha Nagar, General Secretary, DUSU, said,” “This is an unfortunate incident. There’s been an exponential growth in the suicidal tendencies amongst the youth. They see suicide as an easy resolution to their issues. A necessity at this moment is to come up with ideas to expose pupils to the immaturity behind such ideas and make them stronger. I have moved a proposal to establish a Wellness Cell within the University and I expect it to pull through and be fully functional latest by the end of this academic year.”
According to the Bharati College counselor, Dr. Sonali Jain, “The college does have an infrastructure and a psychodynamic counselor, who is trained in her profession. Long-term therapy isn’t always possible, so we provide them (patients) with short-term therapy. In case of a long-term therapy, The patient is made to lie for 45 minutes and open up to a counselor, in the presence of a trained supervisor. The suicide victim never turned up for therapy or to share her problem.”
Although the Bharati College claims to have established a cell as an outlet of the depressed upsurges of the students, the pupils aren’t satisfied by its constitution. It lacks a professional therapist and instead makes do with an English professor, who doubles up as the therapist.
While the Police continue with their investigation- filtering through call records and interrogating near and dear ones, the issue needs to be given profound gravity and adequate steps need to be taken, in order to avoid such sorrowful instances in the future. If you are feeling unwell and depressive, and are having self-harming thoughts then call on the 24 x 7 suicide helpline number: 022 2754 6669
Feature Image Credits: South Call
Aashish Jain
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