After an Instagram post alleging harassment by a private university in Bengaluru to be the reason behind a student’s suicide went viral, online support has started to pour in for the victim’s family, demanding strict actions to be taken against the university.
Aditya Prabhu, a 19-year-old BTech student at PES University, Bengaluru, died by suicide on Monday, July 17 after jumping off the eighth floor of a building on the college campus. Reportedly, the college had accused Aditya of using unfair means during the examination.
Days after the incident, an Instagram user with the username ‘justiceforadityaprabhu’, claiming to be the deceased’s mother, posted a detailed description of the incident accusing the college administration, including the student's mentor and other senior officials, of mental harassment.
When EdexLive tried to reach out to the Instagram user, we received no response hence, we could not independently verify their identity.
The Instagram account was created on Thursday, July 20, and has already gained more than 13,000 followers. The viral Instagram post has attracted over 5.6 lakh likes and 4,000 comments from people showing support and sharing similar experiences.
A similar account has been created on Twitter with the username @justice4aditya which has gained 230 followers in less than a day. Additionally, many students and PES University’s alumni have come forward to share their experiences using the hashtag #justiceforadityaprabhu on Twitter.
What does the viral post say?
The viral Instagram post made online on Thursday, July 20 starts by saying, “I am Aditya Prabhu's mother. He was a student (19 years old) of PES college, RR road campus, CSE 1st year student. On July 17th Aditya jumped from 8th floor of a building in the campus and committed suicide. The college announced to the media that Aditya was caught cheating and copying during the examination.”
The post goes on to say that Aditya’s mother received a call from him at 11.45 am July 17. He told her that he had forgotten to remove his phone from his pocket before the exam. However, upon realising he put the phone away from him in aeroplane mode.
After the phone was caught by the invigilator, Aditya was detained and harassed by the college authorities, the post alleged.
“Aditya also told me that they are harassing him, they told him it's better to die than do such things and asked me to come to college,” it said.
The post also said that the mother was forced by the college authorities to sign a statement.
“I asked them to take him to hospital and try to revive him. What I was told next is unbelievable... I was told that I need to recognise him first and sign a statement and then they will take him to hospital and try to revive him… Once I agreed that it's Aditya, they gave me something to sign and told me that as soon as I sign, they will take him to hospital. Again and again I was pressured to sign,” it said.
Upon demands by the deceased’s family, an investigation was started which went on till 7.30 pm that day. The post alleged that none of the authorities from the university, including the dean, vice-chancellor or Aditya’s mentor were present during the process.
Students share experience
After the Instagram account went viral, a number of netizens shared their personal experiences of harassment by educational institutes.
“As an alumni (2012), I thought college might have changed over the years. Shocked to see that college still continues to harass students,” an Instagram user, Shruti Nayak, commented on the post.
“In 2013, HOD had ceased my mobile. Reason - I was using the phone near college CAFETERIA during break time. Reason being told was - “I was not supposed to use mobile phones in the college premises”. I apologised and mentioned - It won’t repeat. I need the phone to contact my family as I stay at PES hostel. Yet, it wasn’t heard and my phone was taken by the HOD,” the user added.
Another Twitter user @laxmitejaswinip shared a similar experience.
“During my college days, I faced immense pressure. It was my last paper of the final exams, and I had three promising job offers on one hand and aspirations for a master's degree. But on that fateful day, I made a regrettable mistake. I wrote a formula on my hand to help me remember something, only realising it when I entered the exam hall…Like you, I was taken to the examination department, and they decided not to allow me even to write a supplementary exam,” the tweet mentioned.
“Shocked and devastated, they refused my plea for a supplementary exam. While my seniors got re-exams last year, I was told to wait until next year. The pain was so unbearable, I wanted to get hit by a speeding BMTC bus near Banashankari and die,” the tweet added.
Many more similar tweets and Instagram comments have been posted in support of the deceased's family in the last 24 hours.
What has happened so far?
After the unfortunate incident on July 17, Aditya’s father J Girish Prabhu, a 50-year-old engineer, filed a complaint with the police accusing the invigilator and the college management of abetment of suicide under IPC 306, alleging that they mentally harassed his son instead of providing him with a chance to prove his innocence.
The FIR filed by the victim’s father said that Aditya was “left unattended without any supervision after the mental harassment.”
In response to the filed complaint, the Girinagar police registered a case and summoned the invigilator and the college management for questioning. Further investigations into the matter are ongoing.
