A dental postgraduate student in Bengaluru has alleged that she had to discontinue her course following harassment in the college, since she missed classes due to a medical condition she’s suffering from following an accident. The student, Anubha Mahajan, has written a complaint letter to the Dental Council of India alleging bullying and harassment by professors at the institute. The college has however denied the allegations, and said that they have been supportive of the student, and that they offered her a six month medical leave to help her continue her education.
In 2014, Anubha Mahajan met with an accident. Two years later, she joined the Oxford Dental College in Bengaluru’s Bommanahalli to do her post-graduate degree in Dental Science at the Department of Paedodontics and Preventive Dentistry. A few months later, she began experiencing pain in her leg following which she was diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), a relatively rare condition that causes chronic pain following an accident, stroke, or injury. A person with CRPS may complain of constant severe pain, which has been compared to a "burning" or "pins and needles" sensation. It generally affects the arms or legs of an individual.
In her letter to DCI, Anubha alleges she faced a lot of judgement for missing classes. The DCI in turn, has asked the college to form a committee to probe the allegations. The college has said that the student rarely attended classes.
Anubha eventually decided to quit her course in January this year. The college says they asked her to reconsider her decision, at which juncture she was given six months leave to recuperate. In June, she decided to quit her course. She got her certificates back from the college in June. However, she has now alleged that she is not being given a discontinuation letter from the college. The college meanwhile has confirmed that there is no practice of giving discontinuation letters to students who drop out.
Editor’s Note: We have redacted portions of the article following contradictory claims and allegations. TNM will wait for the DCI to pronounce their assessment of the allegations before publishing an update.