Kota MBBS student suicide case: Medicos protest against College administration
Kota: A day after a final-year MBBS student from Kota Medical College died by suicide after being stressed over poor academic performance, the college administration has been accused of harassment.
According to media reports, his parents alleged that their son was a victim of mistreatment by the college authorities, which they believe pushed him to take his own life.
The deceased's father stated that his son, who secured admission to the college after passing the NEET exam, was continuously harassed by the college administration for the past three years. He claimed that the administration tried to deliberately fail him in every year of his MBBS course. As a result, his son faced disruptions not only in his first year but in his third year as well.
Also read- Stressed over academic performance, Kota Medical College MBBS student commits suicide
In the first year of his course, his father alleged that his son was marked as fail in his examination. However, when they challenged the result at Rajasthan Health Science University (RUSH), the result was re-evaluated and his son was declared passed. But it almost took 7 months to get the declaration. Therefore, he claimed that the medical college purposely tried to fail his son.
Furthermore, he alleged that the student was barred from the college for the past one and a half years after he was caught cheating in his third year exam paper. However, when his son recently approached the medical college pleading for a chance to appear in exams, he was scolded, harassed, humiliated, and turned away in return.
Medical Dialogues had recently reported that stressed over poor academic performance, a final year MBBS student of Kota Medical College allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling fan with a rope in his hostel room The police discovered a suicide note at the scene in which the student apologized to his parents for not meeting their expectations. According to the police officials, the medical student was under stress because he couldn't perform as he expected, which is believed to have led him to take this step. He had been living in Kota for the past three years.
Following his death, several undergraduate and postgraduate students protested outside the principal's office, raising slogans against the college administration and demanding accountability and justice for him. In response, the college principal Sangeeta Saxena constituted a five-member committee to probe the matter.
Speaking to NDTV, his father said, "The college authorities deliberately did not pass him in the first-year examination. We challenged the result at Rajasthan Health Science University (RUSH), which led to a re-evaluation, and he was declared passed after a delay of 7-8 months. He successfully cleared his second-year exams. However, in the third year, he was caught cheating, leading to the cancellation of two of his exams. As a result, he was barred from college for the past one and a half years."
A senior colleague of the deceased student told the daily, "Not all students are treated equally at Kota Medical College. *** had been pleading with the administration for a chance to appear in exams, but his requests were repeatedly denied. Whenever he approached them, he was scolded and turned away. His mental health was deteriorating for the past three months."
Meanwhile, police have assured that further investigations will be conducted based on the family's complaint.
While raising the issue on a popular social media platform, 'X', a health activist going by the name 'Indian Doctor' shared a video and some pictures of the student's protest that took place at night on the Kota Medical College campus.
In the video, hundreds of medical students could be seen marching with mobile flashlights and raising only one slogan, "We Want Justice". With student protests intensifying, the demand for an impartial inquiry into the matter is growing.
