Following the suicide of a nursing student in the AIIMS Nursing Hostel, fellow students took out a peace march from the hostel gate to the mortuary on Monday evening.
“The students were very disturbed by the incident, especially the Institution’s response,” said Centre for Struggling Women convener Maya John.
She added that when the residents of the nursing hostel contacted their teachers and the warden on suspecting something had gone wrong, they did not receive the required assistance since the authorities concerned were not reportedly forthcoming.
“The students claimed that they had to force open the hostel room door, inform the police without any assistance or guidance from the authorities,” noted Ms. John.
The fellow students and other persons have submitted a complaint to the AIIMS Director, Dr. M.C. Misra, highlighting the alleged lax response of the authorities on Sunday night.
“The deceased Pallavi Grover had actually filed a complaint earlier against the harassment of the teacher but this was ignored and no enquiry was made. The student, in fact, was unable to pass her second year examination. Other residents of the hostel alleged that this was possibly linked to the student’s decision to complain against her teacher,” noted Ms. John.
The Centre for Struggling Women in their release issued on Monday noted that the incident is an indicator “of the extremely challenging and unrewarding conditions in which the nursing community is studying as well as working”.
“Clearly all is not well in nursing educational institutions as well as in hospitals. Prestigious government medical colleges like AIIMS are no exception and are in fact witnessing growing rates of frustration and disappointment within serving nurses as well as nursing students,” the release noted.
