The Registrar of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology (MAKAUT), Partha Pratim Lahiri, has been asked to go on a one-month leave following ongoing student protests over the death of a female student on the university’s Haringhata campus in West Bengal’s Nadia district.
The student allegedly jumped from the fifth floor of a university building on Monday after being “caught cheating” during an examination, officials said. She was rushed to Haringhata Rural Hospital, where doctors declared her dead, reported PTI.
Classes resumed on the Haringhata campus on Thursday, February 13, after discussions between the protesting students and university authorities. The internal examinations, which began on February 5 but were suspended since February 11 due to the protests, will resume on February 17, Officiating Vice-Chancellor Tapas Chakraborty confirmed to PTI.
Chakraborty stated that Lahiri was placed on leave due to ongoing student agitation over an alleged delay in taking the student to the hospital. The university expects to complete its internal investigation within the month.
Protesting students have accused the university of negligence, claiming that the absence of an ambulance driver delayed the student’s transfer to the hospital. According to them, after waiting for 15-20 minutes without an ambulance, they arranged an e-rickshaw to transport her, but she died on the way.
"I had a cordial discussion with the students, after which they withdrew their protest, and the situation is now normal," Chakraborty said.