The University Grants Commission (UGC), the apex regulatory body for higher education in India, issued a letter to the Chief Secretary of the Karnataka Government, on Wednesday, December 27, over the concerns regarding mental and institutional harassment at Bengaluru’s renowned PES University.
The letter was issued by the UGC on the basis of a complaint filed by the All India Student’s Union (AISU) dated November 16.
To recall, the allegations of institutional and mental harassment being faced by students at PES University started after Aditya Prabhu, a 19-year-old student, jumped to his death at the reputed engineering institute in July 2023.
Aditya Prabhu’s death sparked outrage in Bengaluru as well as on social media after the deceased’s family took to social media platform Instagram, alleging mental harassment of Aditya Prabhu by the institute’s authorities. Following this, a police case was filed and three faculty members from PES University were chargesheeted for abetment of suicide.
Soon after, another student, Surya M Achar, a third-year BTech Computer Science from the Electronic City branch of PES University ended his life by jumping from the college building.
These incidents have highlighted the toxic culture at the university, the student group had said in their complaint letter to the UGC.
The UGC has urged the state government to take necessary actions on the matter.
Recently, on December 12, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had also sent a notice to the Deputy Commissioner (DC) and the District Magistrate (DM) of Bengaluru, mandating an inquiry into the matter, demanding that a report be submitted within seven days.
