A 24-year-old doctoral student from Odisha was found dead in the hostel of the Central University of Kerala on Tuesday afternoon.
The police said Ruby Patel, 24, a PhD scholar from Bargarh Salepali, Odisha, was found dead hanging in the hostel bathroom around noon. Ruby was pursuing studies in Hindi and Comparative Literature.
The Bekal police transferred the body to the Kanhangad district hospital mortuary. The police suspect academic pressure and psychological issues could be the reasons for the student committing suicide. This is the second instance of a student taking own life in the college hostel in recent months.
Last month, Nidish Yadav, 28, a second-semester MEd student from Gazipur, Uttar Pradesh, was found dead hanging in the hostel. In January, a student from Tamil Nadu who attempted suicide was saved by the timely intervention of students and staff.
Against this backdrop, student organisations have raised strong objections to the the university’s perceived lack of intervention and failure to appoint a psychologist on permanent basis.
“The university had appointed a psychologist on a temporary basis. For the past eight months there was no psychologist in the university and the students council had been demanding the university to appoint one on a permanent basis considering the problems faced by students,” said University Students Council president A. Sreehari.
He said the university had neglected the demand. But the University Registrar had assured the council that the matter would be discussed at the upcoming executive meeting.
Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the State’s health helpline 104, Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline of Maithri - 0484-2540530, Thanal Suicide Prevention Centre - 0495-2760000 and Direction Interventions System for Health Awareness (DISH)- 1056
