Diploma student accuses lecturer of harassment in videos, ends life

CHIKKABALLAPURU: A diploma student committed suicide after alleging harassment by a lecturer, at Mallahalli village in Sidlaghatta taluk on Friday. The deceased has been identified as Gajendra.

Gajendra, son of Lalithamma and Devaraju of Mallahalli village, levelled serious allegations in a selfie video against the lecturer and committed suicide. He was pursuing a diploma course in mechanical engineering at a private college in Chikkaballapur city.

Gajendra has alleged in the selfie video of being personally targeted and harassed by lecturer Manjunath for no reason. He also accused the lecturer of repeatedly assaulting him, tearing the assignment book and insulting him in front of the class.

The student accused Manjunath of being the cause of his death. “The lecturer insulted me in front of other classmates and threatened that he will fail me in the examination. I am ending my life for self respect, not due to fear of the lecturer. I have gone through much torture and this is the reason for my death”, Gajendra said in the video.  After making two videos, including one on Wednesday night and another on Thursday morning, he committed suicide in an old house in front of his house.

Gajendra’s family buried his body without realising why he had committed suicide. They later found out when they checked the selfie video on his phone. As soon as the matter came to light, Gajendra’s parents and relatives gheraoed the polytechnic college and took the principal to task.

An angry mob forcefully entered the college principal’s cabin and created a ruckus. At this time, there was a verbal exchange between the Nandigiridham police and the protesters. Nandigiridham police have arrested two ABVP activists for creating ruckus in the college.