Vociferous protests echoed all day outside the gates of Amity Law School-Delhi here on Wednesday, with students demanding the resignation of two staff members who allegedly abetted the suicide of 21-year-old Sushant Rohilla on August 10.
Alumni too joined the protest, which now has a strong online presence. As #JusticeForSushant trends on social media, students have been sharing stories of the institute’s “arbitrary and autocratic” style of functioning.
The protests continued despite Amity Law School sending the two faculty members concerned on leave and setting up a six-member committee to probe the student’s death.
Copies of e-mails
The institute released copies of e-mails showing it had informed the student and his parents about the shortage of attendance well in time.
Also present at the protest was Sushant’s sister Mehak. Still trying to cope with her brother’s loss, she said she was touched by the presence of so many college students demanding justice for him.
“The number of students demanding justice for my brother shows how all of them are affected by the arbitrary functioning of the college and are finally speaking up,” she added.
While some students were reluctant to speak on record against the management, former students had no such qualms.
“Had to see a psychiatrist”
Rahul Jha, a former student, alleged that a senior faculty member would target students and make their lives miserable once they were on her radar.
“Not just me, but many other students had to see a psychiatrist due to the way in which the faculty harassed, intimidated and mentally tortured us. There was no democratic body on campus and the grievance panel too was headed by the same person who caused all the misery.”
Students said they feared speaking up against the college, but Sushant’s death forced them to rally together. One student even had the alleged screenshot from the website of Guru Gobind Singh IP University, which the college is affiliated to, showing the details of Sushant’s admit card that was allegedly withheld by Amity Law School.
In its defence, Amity Law School on Wednesday made public the e-mails sent to both Sushant and his parents, showing that they constantly kept them updated about his shortage of attendance.
There was also an e-mail stating that Sushant was debarred from the end-term examinations and asking the parents to come to the campus to discuss the issue.
Father unaware,
says college
The college added that when two faculty members visited the Rohilla residence on August 11, the day after the suicide, Sushant’s father said he had no idea that he had been debarred from the examinations.
