In a tragic series of incidents, a PhD scholar at the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University set himself on fire and tried to kill a woman colleague who suffered burn injuries. This took place in Maharashtra's Aurangabad district at the Government Institute of Science in the Hanuman Tekdi area near the university campus, on Monday afternoon, November 21.

According to a senior police official from the Begumpura police station, the man suffered from 80 per cent burns while the woman sustained 40 to 50 per cent burn injuries. They were rushed to the government medical college for treatment, as mentioned in a report by PTI.

The man has been identified as Gajanan Munde. He set himself ablaze and held on to a woman who was also burnt in the process, Inspector Prashant Potdar said. The duo was pursuing their PhD in the Zoology department of the university and the woman was deployed at a forensic science college for her project, Potdar informed further.

The woman was in the office of an Assistant Professor when Munde arrived there and poured petrol on himself and her. According to the Assistant Professor who was present on the scene, the woman tried to flee, but the man set himself on fire and held her, the police official said, adding that further probe was underway, as per PTI.

Several incidents of death by suicide of PhD scholars have been reported over the last few months. In September, a PhD student from IIT Kanpur was found hanging in his hostel room. In May, a scholar from Panjab University allegedly died by suicide after consuming poison, while another scholar from Aligarh Muslim University allegedly attempted suicide. Back in April, a PhD student from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Kolkata, also died by suicide, implicating his supervisor as the reason in his suicide note.