Haryana medical student dies by suicide in her car near Dehradun college; father blames HoD for harassment

DEHRADUN: A 25-year-old Master of Surgery (ophthalmology) student from Ambala died by suicide in the early hours of Wednesday in her car parked near the institute in Dehradun's Patel Nagar.

Tanvi had been studying at Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical & Health Sciences (SGRRIMHS) for the past three years and was living in a rented accommodation in the city with her mother. Her father, an Ambala-based Ayurveda practitioner, alleged that harassment by her head of department drove her to take the extreme step.

The father said he rushed to Dehradun after she did not respond to his calls and messages on Tuesday night. "She was very disturbed due to the harassment by her HoD, who was promoted around four months ago. Since then, the HoD had been forcing her to cut all contact with her thesis guide and previous HoD. When my daughter refused, citing her ongoing thesis, the HoD started giving her ‘0' marks in her duty logs despite her being good in studies and earlier getting an average of ‘6'."

"On Tuesday too, she called me and spoke about the constant harassment. When she didn't respond to my calls later and didn't return home, I feared she might have taken a drastic step," he said while speaking to TOI at the district hospital where the student's body was sent for post-mortem examination.

The father said that after reaching Dehradun around 3 am, he found her unconscious inside her locked car parked near a temple close to the hospital where she was on duty.

"I broke open the rear window and found a cannula in her left arm. She had injected some chemical into her body. I rushed her to the hospital, where she was declared dead on arrival. We are completely broken and want justice. We have lodged a complaint at the Patelnagar police station," he said.

Senior sub-inspector Pramod Shah of Patelnagar police station confirmed to TOI that a complaint was received. "However, a case is yet to be registered as police are inquiring about allegations made in the complaint. Appropriate legal action would be taken accordingly," said Shah.

The institute's management said the student had been undergoing treatment for mental illness.

"It has been reported that she had earlier attempted suicide twice — once two years ago and again on Dec 31 last year. Her parents were aware and were getting her psychiatric treatment. Due to her condition, her parents were staying near the campus. The written consent in regards to her mental illness was submitted by her parents at the medical superintendent's office in the past," said Bhupendra Raturi, chief PRO of SGRRIMHS.

In another statement released later, the management said that they had also apprised the Dehradun SSP of the matter. "She was brought to the hospital emergency by her guardian around 3:15 am, where she was declared dead by the doctors."

It added: "We also wish to inform you that some people are taking undue advantage of the situation and are talking about filing an FIR to tarnish the image of the doctors and the hospital, which is not justified. This will have an adverse effect on the morale of doctors. We humbly request you to take cognisance of the matter and take necessary action."