Abetment charges against Sharda University administration for BTech student's death

NEW DELHI: An FIR has been registered against the Sharda University administration after the father of a BTech student, who recently committed suicide in his hostel room, filed a complaint alleging abetment, police said on Tuesday. In his complaint, Kartik Chandra Dey alleged that the university administration did not inform the family when his son had been missing classes.

Shivam Dey, a 24-year-old BTech Computer Science student of the university, was found dead by hanging inside his room at the HNR hostel on Friday night. Shivam, a resident of Purnia in Bihar's Madhubani district, was the lone son to his father, a private company employee, and mother, a housewife. He had left a suicide note, which said he was unable to bear the pressure of studies, that he was responsible for his death and no one else is to be blamed for it.

The note asked the police not to detain anyone and requested the university to refund unused fees to his parents. "My son was studying BTech in Sharda University and has been living in the HNR boys hostel. He has not gone to college since August 2023," Kartik said in his complaint filed at Knowledge Park police station on Sunday. The complaint mentioned that Shivam had backlogs in various subjects. "The college was continuously charging fees from us.

We used to get e-mails and messages regarding fees from the college, but it never informed us that Shivam was not attending the classes," the complaint said. Earlier, a university spokesperson had said that Shivam was enrolled in the BTech programme in 2022 and completed his first year, but struggled in the second year and failed to meet the minimum grade requirement of 5.0 CGPA to progress to the third year.

Previous incident in college

"His mentor remained in touch to support him and encouraged him to participate in internships and other academic programmes," the spokesperson had said. The student was also given opportunity to improve his performance, and offered a chance to repeat the second year at reduced fees if could not, he had said. The university had expressed condolences to the student's family and confirmed that fees would be refunded and all necessary support would be given to the family in future.

The family members had claimed that Shivam returned to college on August 2 after a religious tour to Vaishno Devi with them. He was normal at home and had not shown any sign of distress. On July 18, a second-year student from the Dental Sciences stream in the university had ended life in her hostel room. She had blamed two faculty members for her death and they were arrested.

If you know someone – friend or family member – at risk of suicide, please reach out to them. Those in distress or having suicidal thoughts or tendencies could seek help and counselling by calling 9820466726 or visiting AASRA’s official website or can call iCALL on 9152987821. Here are some more helpline numbers of suicide prevention organisations that can offer emotional support to individuals and families.