Hyderabad: Dalit student dies by suicide after alleged caste discrimination

An 18-year-old Dalit student at a coaching academy in Hyderabad died by suicide on Tuesday after suffering alleged caste-based harassment at the hands of her roommates, her family said.

Penumala Vidya Priyanka, who shared a room with four other girls who were students of Davao International Medical Academy, was repeatedly humiliated by them who brought up her caste and even provoked her to die by suicide, her father Penumala Prabhakar Rao said in the police complaint.

They isolated her in the campus and spread negative propaganda against her to other students, her father alleged.

He further said that he approached the management of the academy but they failed to take any action against the four girls. “I would talk to her often and would boost her morale. On Monday also, I spoke to her and asked her to take a break and come home. She said that she had classes to attend. Fifteen minutes later, I got a call from her coaching academy about her suicide.”

A case has been registered under IPC section 306 (abetment to suicide), SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities Act) and an investigation is underway.

Here are a few helpline numbers of suicide prevention organisations you can reach out to, if you know someone displaying suicidal tendencies, mental health issues.

Courtesy : News9 live

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