“This is not just about Anamika. This has been happening for years. She was just the first one who didn’t survive it,” a nursing student at Dr Chandramma Dayananda Sagar Institute of Medical Education and Research, part of Dayananda Sagar University in Bengaluru’s Kanakapura said, following the death of 19-year-old Anamika Vineeth, a first-year BSc nursing student.
Anamika was found dead in her hostel room, allegedly by suicide, on February 4. The incident sparked widespread protests on the campus, leading to the suspension of the college principal and Anamika’s class coordinator. TNM spoke to Anamika’s classmates and other students on campus, who spoke of systemic abuse, mistreatment and harassment by the college authorities, including principal Dr Santham Sweet Rose and faculty members.
According to classmates, Anamika was caught with chits during an internal exam—something multiple students allegedly did—but she was the only one punished. Another student was caught using a mobile phone to generate answers but was let off.
“That student was from abroad,” a witness said. “The principal just told him, ‘I thought you’d be a good boy,’ and that was it.” Anamika, however, was taken to the principal, where she was shouted at in front of everyone, students said.
Anamika’s classmates, who witnessed the principal’s gruelling response to her, told TNM that she was harshly reprimanded and was told that she would poison patients one day, like Greeshma, the death row convict who poisoned her romantic partner in Kerala. She was then allegedly suspended, forced to bring her parents, and given an ultimatum: stay and endure it, or pay for the full duration of the course – four years – and discontinue.
“She begged the authorities to be allowed to leave. But she had no way out,” a classmate told TNM. That night, Anamika was found dead in her hostel room.
Students say the university immediately tried to control the narrative. “They told the media this was about a class test,” a student, who found it difficult to believe a first-year student would kill herself over cheating in a test, said.
“This is not the first time this has happened,” another student said, explaining that other students had attempted to die by suicide on the campus earlier. He said that his classmate, a topper, overdosed on antidepressants due to the pressure at the college. “We got him to the hospital just in time, but his letter, where he named the principal and other faculties, was suppressed—the same thing that happened with Anamika,” he said.
He also added that they initially found two letters when they pushed open her hostel room, one addressed to her parents and another one detailing the alleged harassment at the hands of the campus authorities. But the second letter has gone missing, raising suspicions of foul play, he said.
Following the outrage after Anamika’s death, the university suspended the principal, Santham Sweet Rose, and the class coordinator of the first-year nursing students, Dr Sujitha M, pending an inquiry. However, the experiences of targeted harassment, moral policing, and mental torture shared by students reveal a shocking culture of systemic abuse and power imbalance.
Moral policing, racial and religious bias
Students allege slut-shaming and moral policing by the principal, saying that they were constantly intimidated and humiliated. “If you’re sitting with a guy, she’ll accuse you of seducing him. If you’re sick, she’ll say it’s because you take drugs or drink,” a student said.
Malayali students were allegedly called “filth” and told they were “lucky” to be studying there. “She’d tell us Mallus are here because they have been kicked out of other colleges in Kerala,” the student explained. Bihari students were reportedly told they were “polluting the university,” while Northeast students were called “disease carriers.”
One student recalled an incident in August 2024, where a faculty member tore apart his 20-page assignment in front of the class over a minor formatting issue. When he messaged the class coordinator about it, he was targeted further. “She called me a venomous snake, said I would bite the faculty in the back, and even mocked me by asking how many fathers I had,” he said. “After that, she made sure I suffered in every way possible.”
Some students said they were denied religious freedom. According to some of the rules made by the college, Muslim students living in hostels were not allowed to go to the mosque before class hours even though other departments had no such rule.
“None of the students were allowed to go home for Christmas. The principal gave one day off, but if you didn’t return the next morning, you would lose 15 days of attendance, and that has been the rule of our department ever since. If we take a day off, it constitutes us losing 15 days' worth of attendance,” a student told TNM.
In addition to this, students also say that financial exploitation in terms of fees is unquestioned.
‘Payment for years not studied’
Students claim those who try to leave the university are forced to pay the full four-year course fee—over Rs 4 lakh—before their original certificates are returned. “If you want to escape, you have to pay for years you haven’t even studied,” one student said.
Some students also say they were persuaded by the management to take up an accounting certification by the International Skill Development Corporation and charged Rs 7,500 for it. But the course was never conducted. “No class, no certificate, and the money was gone too.”
If a student fails even one subject, they allegedly have to pay Rs 7,000 per paper for a retest, which, according to the university, is only supposed to be Rs 1,000. “There’s no re-evaluation. If they don’t like you, they fail you even if you want to pay the re-evaluation charges. They just will not re-evaluate your papers. Some people have been stuck here for as long as eight years,” explained a student.
Another student said that faculty members coerced them into donating blood. “They needed AB negative blood, and a few of us hesitated because we meet patients every day and our immunity is low. But the faculty shamed us,” recalled the student. They also said that the principal allegedly harassed some of them after donating blood, asking if they were sure they did not have sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS.
A fight to end systemic harassment
Anamika’s death triggered intense protests across the campus and students have come together, determined to push for a safer environment, free of toxicity and harassment. As the protests intensified, students escalated their complaints to the administration. Dr Pushpa Sarkar, Dean of the School of Allied Health Sciences at Dayananda Sagar University, confirmed to TNM that she had received the formal complaint letter and, based on that, issued the suspension order for Dr Santham Sweet Rose and Dr Sujitha M on Thursday, February 6.
She also stated that an Inquiry Board had been formed by the Registrar's office, and the investigation would begin soon, with a final report expected by February 12.
Amidst this, several students came together and formed the ‘Action Council Against Unnatural Death of Anamika Vineeth’, looping in students across departments to fight for justice. Members of the council collected signatures in support of their demands and have been leading protests on the campus. “We are not backing down. This council exists because we refuse to let this be forgotten,” a student told TNM.
Despite assurances from the dean and the setting up of the Inquiry Board, students remain sceptical. “The dean says action will be taken, but we’ve seen this before,” a student member from the council said. “They just want us to shut up until this blows over.”
Many students are also wary of how the administration has handled similar cases in the past. “Every time someone tried to pursue this with them, they either called them mentally unstable or waited until people stopped talking about it. That’s not going to happen this time,” a student asserted.
Students have refused to attend classes until action is taken. Their demands include:
Accountability and apology: A formal apology and a detailed explanation to Anamika’s grieving parents from Dr Santham Sweet Rose (Principal), Dr Sujitha Sagar (Class Coordinator) and Mehak Manzoor (Faculty)
Compensation: The college must provide fair financial compensation to Anamika’s parents for the mental distress and loss caused by their daughter’s untimely demise.
Independent Investigation: An impartial inquiry must be conducted to investigate the harassment, suppression of complaints, and discriminatory practices against Kerala students.
Strict Disciplinary Action (termination): Immediate termination and strict disciplinary action should be enforced against the faculty members involved.
The council has demanded the termination not only as justice for Anamika “but also to restore the integrity of the institution and ensure a safe, respectful, and supportive academic environment for all students.”
“We’re not just fighting for Anamika. We’re fighting for everyone who has been through this. This needs to end now,” a senior student said.