A post-graduate medical student of SV Medical College in Tirupati, who had accused three professors of sexual harassment, allegedly took her own life on Tuesday.
The 30-year-old student was found hanging at her home at Pileru town in Andhra Pradesh’s Chittoor district.
The student had accused three professors from the Paediatric department of sexually harassing her. She had also written to Governor ESL Narasimhan seeking his intervention and action against the three professors.
"There is no right teacher-student relationship in the department. Everyone is under pressure and unable to come out and express their feelings," her letter to the Governor had said, according to another college student.
The Governor had ordered an inquiry following her charges and the college management had formed a committee to look into the issue. However, no action had been taken by the committee.
When the results to post-graduate examinations that were held earlier this year, the student did not get passing marks. She had told her friends that she felt she was being deliberately failed because she lodged the complaint against her professors.
The student’s relatives have alleged that the inquiry committee had not submitted its report and the three professors had gone to the media describing her as mentally unsound. They said the attitude of the professors had caused her mental agony and drove her to take this drastic step.
The student’s suicide triggered massive protests at the college. Students staged a sit-in inside the college premises demanding that action be taken against the professors.
One student protester told the local media that the professors used to allegedly 'pass comments' on her clothes.
Protesting students also said that the woman began taking anti-depressants because of the pressure that she faced. They also said that the deceased made several representations to the concerned authorities through official means, but it was of no use.
(With inputs from IANS)