The Acharya Nagarjuna University has suspended the principal of its School of Architecture, Mr Babu Rao in the aftermath of the suicide of a first-year student Rushikeshwari on July 14. Minister for Human Resources Development Ganta Srinivas Rao said on Thursday that this was done to ensure a fair and transparent enquiry into the circumstances that led to the suicide.
The minister said many students and Rushikeswari’s father had said that they suspect the principal had a role to play in the tragic incident. “I have asked the vice-chancellor and the commissioner of college education to place the principal under suspension till the enquiry report is submitted,” he said in Rajahmundry. The minister said cell phones, laptops and the I Phone of Rushikeswari and the three students -- Narala Srinivas, Dharavat Jaichand and Dumpa Hanisha – accused of bullying the fresher have been taken for decoding of data and verification of the information gleaned from them.
The minister said a new twist has emerged in the case as he has been receiving phone calls from some college students in the last two or three days which indicate that some photographs of Rushikeswari captured by someone were sent to blackmail her and that could have been the trigger for her suicide. “There are other versions of the suicide emerging now,” he said.
