Dalit student from DU ends life student body blames institutional

A student of Delhi University (DU) died by suicide on November 1. The Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association (BAPSA) alleged that institutional pressure drove the student to take the extreme step.

According to Maktoob Media, the 19-year-old is a Dalit student of the Deshbandhu College, and she was found dead at her flat in Govindpuri. She is the sister of Raj Ratan Rajoriya, the presidential candidate for the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU). Rajoriya is representing BAPSA.

The BAPSA said that the suicide reflects the continuing neglect of marginalised students in DU in terms of mental health support and systematic discrimination. “The police handling of the case was deeply insensitive. Officers arrived at the scene without a doctor and refused requests to summon one, saying too much time had passed,” Rajoria was quoted as saying by Maktoob Media.

The students’ association alleged that the police asked Rajouria to check her sister’s vitals and verbally declared her dead. The student’s body was handed over to her family on November 2 after which, the family left for Madhya Pradesh.

Rajouriya was supposed to deliver the presidential address on November 2, however, he couldn’t do so. Given the sensitive situation, the JNU student organisations, the DUSU Election Committee, and other presidential candidates decided to postpone the debate in solidarity, allowing him to participate at a later time.

Rajouriya raise concerns over a female officer not being present during the preliminary investigation after his sister’s suicide. BAPSA stated that the Delhi University provides a hostel to just 1 percent of its students.

These issues are coupled with high fees interview-based selections, and local guardian requirements make these hostels largely inaccessible to students from marginalised communities, forcing them to rent cramped and expensive rooftop or single-room accommodations.

According to the association, the deceased lived in a poorly maintained flat with no proper ventilation and an unsafe environment. APSA said the incident highlights Delhi University’s ongoing “institutional apathy” towards marginalised students, especially those from Dalit and Bahujan backgrounds.

The association stressed that DU has only one visiting psychiatrist, based in North Campus, and no clinical psychologists for its over seven lakh students and thousands of staff.