When will I get my son's body, asks the father of Karnataka student killed in Ukraine

It was the menace of donations demanded by private medical colleges despite scoring 97 percent in second PU, which made 21 year old Naveen Shekharappa Gyanagoudar, to opt to study in a medical college in Ukraine. Naveen, who was a fourth year medicine student of Kharkiv National Medical University, was hit by Russians shelling in Kharkiv, when he was standing in a queue to buy groceries, on 1, March.

Naveen hailed from Challagere village in Ranebennur taluk of Haveri district, 300 km from Bengaluru, Haveri is the home district of Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. Grief-stricken Naveen's father Shekharappa Gyanagoudar's only question to the media from Tuesday has been when he will get his son's body.

According to the father, he could not take Naveen's call early on Tuesday morning immediately and when he returned the call, someone else answered only to tell him that his son was killed in the shelling. The mother fainted on hearing the news, while the father and Naveen's elder brother who is doing his doctorate in agriculture in Bengaluru have been handling the endless stream of visitors coming to their house.

According to the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority, 397 students were identified as being stranded in Ukraine of which 30 had reached India till Monday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Naveen's father on Tuesday.

Naveen's two friends from the same village , who are now in Ukraine, Amit Venkatesh Vaishyar and the latter's cousin Suman Sridhar Vaishyar, both studying in the same university, are trying to get out of Kharkiv. Amit's father Venkatesh Vaishyar told the National Herald that both the boys along with other Indian students have come out of the bunkers and metro stations and are marching towards the Indian embassy holding the tricolour flag. ``For how many days can they stay in the bunkers? If they are destined to live, they will reach home safely,'' he added.

Vaishyar, who runs a kirana shop in Challagere, said the steep donations in Karnataka's private medical colleges and the caste factor was the reason for students going to Ukraine. ``My son had scored well in the exams and when I approached a college in Davanagere, I was asked to pay Rs 4.5 crore upfront which included the donation and the fee for the entire five years. Where do I mobilize that much amount?'' he asked.

In contrast, the fee in the Ukraine university was Rs 22 lakh for the entire six year course. Each year the students have to pay Rs 3.5 lakh, which is affordable, Vaishyar said.

Speaking about Naveen, he said the boy used to spend most of the time with his son Amit, who was a fifth year student, when he used to come home for holidays. ``Having stayed in Ukraine for a long time, they did not have any friends in Challagere, and Naveen would spend four to five hours in my house only,'' Vaishyar said.

Naveen's father, who was working in a private paper mill in Nanjangud in Mysuru district moved to Challagere some years back. His only plea before the media is that the government should do something about the private professional colleges which are fleecing students and also admissions which are caste ridden.