Disinterested in psychiatry, med PG student dies by suicide

Dharwad: In a tragic incident, a medical student ended her life by suicide by hanging herself at Dharwad Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (Dimhans) hostel here on Wednesday.According to police sources, the deceased is Pragnya Palegar, 25, of Shivamogga. She was staying at the hostel with a roommate. The suicide came to light when the roommate returned to the hostel on Wednesday morning.
Dimhans director Dr Arunkumar C told TOI that Pragnya was pursuing PG in MD Psychiatry. Having got the admission on Jan 1, she had been staying at the hostel for the past few days. As she lost interest in the psychiatry subject after taking admission, her parents came to the city to counsel and persuade her to continue the studies. "But we do not know what exactly transpired between them. We are shocked to know about her suicide. Her roommate alerted the college staff and police after seeing her body," he added.Pragnya's mother Dr Rekha, who is an anatomy professor, said the former took admission on her own interest — there was no pressure on her from the family. "After getting admission, she told us that she was not interested in pursuing the course. As it is common for students to face such situations during the initial days of their PG, we thought she too was going through the same. We came to Dharwad and counselled her, saying things would be normal gradually. We went back to Shivamogga yesterday. But she ended her life by hanging the next morning," she said, adding the family is distraught at losing the lone daughter.P R Gangenahalli, inspector at the Dharwad sub-urban police station quoted the victim's parents, saying she lost her interest in the course and took the extreme step, counselling by parents notwithstanding. "We filed a case and completed the formalities, including the autopsy," the inspector added.