Today, Saturday, May 18, on a cloudy morning in Bengaluru, about 80-90 people gathered at the city’s Freedom Park, to protest against the most recent case of suicide reported from the PES University.
The protest gathering was led by the activist and social worker Dushyant Dubey, who is also known as St Broseph, and members of his organisation St Broseph’s Army, and attended by activists, students as well as parents.
Dubey addressed the protestors, urging each to raise their voice against the PES administration and their inaction against the faculty members despite four cases of suicides being reported in the last ten months.
The protest started at 10 am on Saturday, May 18 at Freedom Park, located in central Bengaluru, and concluded at 1 pm. The protestors were seen holding placards with slogans like 'Four is a pattern', ‘Say no to PES’, and ‘Criminalise Student Harassment’.
Addressing the protestors on Saturday, May 18, Dushyant Dubey said, “First it was Aditya, then it was Surya… How many student lives do we lose before realising the gravity of the situation? Aditya’s father has been asking the Ministry of Education continuously for an appointment, but he is yet to receive any response. All four students who had lost their lives had good academic records and no history of mental distress. If the government wants to investigate, it can take a survey of all students at PES and see how many horror stories come up, as long as they keep it anonymous.”
Along with members of the organisation, parents and family of deceased student Aditya Prabhu, who died by suicide in July 2023 at the university were also present at the protest site.
