Student commits suicide at private university in Punjab, peers protest

A first-year student of a private university in Punjab's Phagwara committed suicide, triggering a protest by fellow students on the campus, police said on Wednesday.

The student, who was from Kerala and was studying B.Design at Lovely Professional University (LPU), took the extreme step on Tuesday, they said.

The protesting students alleged this was the second suicide reported on the campus on the outskirts of Jalandhar city in the past 10 days.

Amid heavy police deployment, the protesting students demanded to know the reasons behind both the suicide cases.

They said that news about the last suicide had gone unreported as university authorities settled the issue "within the closed doors".

Prima facie, the student was facing some personal issues, as was suggested by a suicide note left by him, a police official in Phagwara said.

Deputy Commissioner Jaspreet Singh told the media, "We received information about the suicide of the first-year student of the university at around 5.30 p.m. on September 20 following which a police team rushed to the varsity for investigation and sealed the spot."

Police said the student's parents have been informed and an investigation is underway.

A Kapurthala district administration official appealed to students not to believe any rumours.

LPU said it is saddened by the unfortunate incident.

"The initial investigation by the police, and the content of the suicide note point towards personal issues of the deceased. The university is providing full support to the authorities for further investigation.

"The University mourns the loss of the student and expresses its condolences to the bereaved family," LPU said in a statement posted on its Twitter handle.

The incident in prestigious LPU comes four days after protests rocked Chandigarh University campus as some students claimed that a hosteller had recorded several objectionable videos of women students in the washroom.

As the matter drew angry political reactions, Chandigarh University authorities clarified that "no videos were found of any student which are objectionable, except a personal video shot by a girl which she shared with her boyfriend".

Also dismissing reports of suicide attempt by some students who were allegedly filmed, the authorities said: "There are rumours that seven girls have committed suicide whereas the fact is that no girl has taken any such step".

Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav on September 19 constituted a three-member all-women Special Investigating Team (SIT), under the supervision of Additional DGP Gurpreet Deo, to investigate allegations by Chandigarh University hostellers.

The DGP had said one student and two others were arrested.