Last Tuesday he went to the only other room in his house and committed suicide (Representational)
Highlight
- Aishwarya Reddy was a sophomore math honors student at LSR College
- His family had mortgaged his one-bedroom house for his admission to college.
- The scholarship he was to receive in March was delayed, his family said.
Hyderabad:
He asked for a laptop, even a second-hand one, to continue his college classes during the coronavirus lockdown. But his family had problems with the application. Last week, the 19-year-old student from Delhi’s Lady Shri Ram University (LSR) committed suicide at her home in Telangana, leaving a note that once again highlights the tragedy of thousands of families and students left financially desperate by the virus shutdown. .
His heartbroken father, a motorcycle mechanic, said he would have somehow raised the money to support his education. She had scored 98.5 percent in class 12 and was the pride of the family.
“The situation my brilliant daughter went through shouldn’t happen to any other daughter,” her mother said.
The Math Honors sophomore returned home in February when schools and colleges closed. In October, he asked his father for a laptop and told him that it was increasingly difficult to do online classes on his mobile phone. His father said that he had asked him to wait a few days.
She never asked again.
Last Tuesday, when the family was gathered in their living room, the teenager went to the only other room and committed suicide.
“Because of me, my family has many expenses, I am a burden on them. My education is a burden. If I cannot study, I cannot live … Please try to make sure the INSPIRE scholarship is awarded at least for one year, “said his note in Telugu.
Her mother said the family never noticed when she quietly slipped away. “She was going through mental stress due to our financial condition. She had to go to Delhi for her studies, all her friends had already started going, we were trying to get a loan but we couldn’t arrange the money. She went into depression,” she said.
The student was to receive her Rs 1.2 lakh scholarship in March, but was delayed, her family said. The INSPIRE scholarship is awarded by the Ministry of Science and Technology.
“He wanted to sit for the civil service exam. He was worried that we couldn’t afford his studies,” his father said.
The family had mortgaged their one-bedroom house for admission to college. After closing, his father’s business had not recovered.
His younger sister had dropped out of school so she could continue to college. He showed his book full of pencil drawings. “In his spare time, he loved to do this,” said the girl.
The Student Federation of India said the delayed scholarship revealed the negligence of the central government.
“The delay in scholarships points to the central government’s apathy towards working students of such origins. SFI has requested the government of India on several occasions to release pending scholarships and student scholarships,” SFI said in a statement.
LSR’s student body says the student had said in a survey that she couldn’t do any practical work because her mobile phone didn’t work and she didn’t have a laptop.
“It was also affected by the sudden decision of the LSR administration to cancel the hostel for all students and to give it only to first-year students from now on,” said Sd. Unnimaya, general secretary of the LSR Student Union.
The student’s roommate questioned the university administration. “How can the administration expect students from underserved backgrounds to have the funds to cover the costs of vacating a room in a shelter, especially at a time when the pandemic-induced lockdown had pushed many families into financial crisis “She could not afford to travel across the country. As her fellow inmate I can say that it was this same system that pushed her to kill herself. The institution failed her,” and Lekshmi, member of the SFI-LSR.
LSR director Suman Sharma told NDTV that the student never asked the university for help. “She never approached her faculty, the shelter authorities, or the counselor for help. We have a certified counselor to speak to students to address their mental health issues as well. Organizations that speak out against the university have vested interests, “Sharma said.
The LSR shelter was closed during the national closure of educational institutions. The university has said it will “redouble its efforts to engage more closely with the student community.”
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