The students of Malabar Christian College carried out a protest march to the campus on Monday demanding a probe into the death of a final year degree student, Jaspreet Singh, who was found dead in his home on Sunday.
The protesting students have alleged that 21-year-old Jaspreet took his own life as he was not allowed to sit for the final semester exam over lack of attendance.
Jaspreet Singh, a third-year BA Economics student of the college, lived in Kozhikode with his family. According to students of the college, Jaspreet and his family, natives of Punjab, have been living in Kerala for the past eight years.
Students say Jaspreet was not allowed to write the university semester exam that started on Monday since he did not meet the required attendance limit of 75 per cent. According to the students, Jaspreet had 68 per cent attendance.
“Even though no suicide note was found from Jaspreet, we think that he killed himself because of being disqualified from writing the last semester exam. For the past few days, he had been going around meeting the Principal and university officials to make some provision which will allow him to write the exam,” DC Sarod, a final year student in the college and Jaspreet’s friend, tells TNM.
Students have said that Jaspreet had to go back home to Punjab with his family following the death of one of his close relatives, which reduced his attendance. According to the students, the semester was a comparatively short one and the absence for an even an hour accounted for one per cent cut in attendance.
“But he had 68 per cent attendance, usually during emergencies and if the student has attendance close to 75 per cent, authorities used to show leniency, but we don’t know what happened in Jaspreet’s case,” Sarod adds.
The students stated that Jaspreet was an ambitious student and he wanted to pursue civil service.
On Monday, the Students Federation of India (SFI) and Kerala Students Union (KSU) held separate protest marches demanding a probe into the matter. The march by SFI turned violent as the students tried to climb over the barricades put up by the police and the police then resorted to water cannons to disperse the protesters.
If you are aware of anyone facing mental health issues or feeling suicidal, please provide help. Here are some helpline numbers:
Kerala
Maithri helpline - 0484-2540530
Chaithram helpline: 0484-2361161
(Both are 24-hour helpline numbers.)
Telangana
Telangana government suicide prevention toll-free no - 104
Roshni- 040-66202000, 6620200SEVA- 09441778290, 040 - 27504682 (between 9 AM and 7 PM)
Andhra Pradesh
Life Suicide Prevention Helpline No. 78930-78930
Roshni Helpline 1: 9166202000 Helpline 2: 9127848584
Tamil Nadu
State health department suicide helpline number - 104
Sneha Suicide Prevention Centre - 044-24640050 (listed as the sole suicide prevention helpline in TN
Karnataka
Sahai: 24-hour helpline numbers: 080- 65000111, 080-65000222