MBBS intern suicide case: SGPC-run medical college denies allegations, seeks probe

Amritsar: Following the suicide case of a 26-year-old MBBS female intern of SGPC-run Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research at Vallah, the medical college authorities have finally broken their silence and responded to the matter. They have denied the caste discrimination allegations and claimed that the persons booked in the case have protested, defining the FIR as a ‘one-sided action.’

Contrary to this, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) has issued a notice to the district administration and sought an action taken report on priority after being upset over casteist remarks made by teachers to the intern.

Days after the suicide of the intern, the police have arrested one student so far in connection with the case. However, as per the statement of the college authorities, the police have not provided any update on the student’s arrest.

Denying the caste discrimination allegation, the authorities said the suicide case was related to her family problem and the college had no part in it since half of the students in the college are from the lower caste. Therefore, they indicated that the deceased was not harassed by the seniors because of her caste.

Also read- Alleged Caste Harassment: MBBS Intern Commits Suicide, 2 Professors, 4 Batchmates Booked By Police

Earlier, the authorities refused to give any response regarding the case stating that they would cooperate with the investigation. However, a new direction has emerged in the student’s suicide case where the intern’s batchmates who were booked, students including those belonging to the SC community and their parents on Monday, protested against the FIR, terming it a “one-sided action.”

As per information by the NCSC from media reports, the victim’s mother alleged that her daughter was upset over casteist remarks being passed by the college teachers who used to say that they would not let her become a doctor.

Taking action, on Monday, the NCSC Commission, on the orders of its Chairman Vijay Sampla, asked the Divisional Commissioner (Jalandhar Division), Inspector General of Police (Border Range), Deputy Commissioner (Amritsar) and the Commissioner of Police to investigate the matter and to submit the report immediately, through post or email, based on the facts and information on the action taken on the allegation or the matter.

Sampla cautioned the officers that if the action-taken report is not received, the commission might exercise the powers of the civil court conferred on it under Article 338 of the Constitution and issue a summon for a personal appearance before the commission in Delhi.

Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that a 26-year-old MBBS female intern of SGPC-run Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research at Vallah committed suicide at her hostel. It has been alleged that she took this extreme step after being harassed and abused by her seniors based on her caste. Following this, ten people, including two professors and four batchmates, were booked by the police.

A case was registered by the victim’s parents at the police station against ten people involved in her suicide. Following this, they were booked under Section 306 of IPC (Abetment of suicide) and Section 3 of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities Act).

In addition, the role of principal Dr Manjit Singh Uppal and dean Dr AP Singh was under scanner after the family members lodged FIR against the accused for using casteist slurs against the deceased. The parents alleged that they were humiliated when they confronted the principal regarding her harassment case.

In response to the caste discrimination allegations laid by the parents of the deceased, Dr AP Singh, dean of the college, told HT, “The deceased girl was good in her studies. Her mother alleges that her classmates were stopping her from becoming a doctor as she belongs to the SC community, but in actuality, she had passed all the MBBS annual exams on the first attempt and she would have completed her internship by the next month. The allegations of her mother are false and baseless. As per her medical records, she was under mental stress for a long period of time due to her family circumstances and she was taking psychiatric treatment.”

“Around 400 SC/ST students are currently studying in this college. No such complaint has ever been made by any SC/ ST student in the college. If the deceased girl was facing any such issues, she should have approached the college management, but it never happened. She could have also approached police or the SC/ST commission, but no such complaint was ever made,” he added.

The dean also confirmed that if the police find any culprit belonging to the medical college, then proper action should be taken as per the law. “The police should conduct an impartial enquiry. We are ready to cooperate with the police in the investigation,” he said.

On the other hand, the family members of the deceased earlier alleged that her daughter was murdered instead of committing suicide since it was impossible for her to reach the fan at the ceiling. The CCTV footage was procured by the police and the investigation is under process. The probe report has been submitted to ACP (East) Gurpartap Singh Sahota, said SHO Jasbir Singh.

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