Telangana: Death of Dalit girls in SC hostel expose lapses; foul play, say kin

Shockingly, the CCTV cameras in the hostel are non-functional and the hostel has only one watchman.

A Seshacharyulu

YADADRI-BHUVANGIRI: The alleged suicide of two SSC girl students at Bhuvanagiri Scheduled Caste girls hostel on Saturday has exposed the shortcomings in the administration of state-run SC hostels.

It is alleged that an auto-rickshaw driver used to sneak into the hostel in the dead of the night. Shockingly, the CCTV cameras in the hostel are non-functional and the hostel has only one watchman.

The parents of the deceased students alleged that the suicide notes, purportedly written by the girls, were forged. The parents also alleged that the signatures on the “suicide notes” do not tally with the signatures of the students. They said that they suspected the role of the staff behind the death of the girls.

The police registered cases under CrPc Section 174 against six persons, including hostel staff.

Meanwhile, no counselling sessions could be conducted for the students in the hostel to instil confidence among them. There are around 110 students in the hostel studying Class VI to SSC. After the tragedy, all these students vacated the hostel on Sunday and left for their native places. 

Case against hostel warden, autorickshaw driver and others

Of these 110 students, around 30 are studying SSC. The SSC examinations will be held in a month’s time and the students will suffer, as they have left for their villages in the erstwhile Nalgonda and Warangal districts, said a hostel staffer.

The police officials said that they registered cases against the hostel warden, an auto driver and four others as the parents of the deceased are expressing doubts over the deaths of Kodi Bhavyashree of Buddharaupet, Khanapur mandal, Warangal district and Gade Vaishnavi of Venkatadripet, near Kazipet, Jangaon district.

The two students had been studying in the Bheechmalla government school of Bhuvanagiri town from Class III and staying at the government SC hostel. Being BCs, they had availed the facility of a 10% quota for other castes to stay in the SC hostel.

According to the hostel staff, in the afternoon of February 3, some students of Class VII complained to warden Shailaja that Bhavyashree and Vaishnavi were behaving rudely towards them. Following this, the warden and PET Pratibha summoned the two girls and counselled them. This was also conveyed to the parents of the students over the phone.

Later at night, these two students did not come to the hostel dining room for dinner. When the rest of the students returned to the hostel, they saw the girls hanging from the ceiling. The students alerted the hostel staff who called the police.

However, the parents of the deceased filed a complaint with the police after noticing injuries on the bodies.

They alleged that an auto driver named Anjaneyulu often came to the hostel late at night, and when the duo complained to Shailaja about his behaviour, the warden reprimanded them. They said that the girls may have resorted to suicide as they could not bear the shame.

Bhavyashri’s father Krishna and brother Ravi alleged that she did not write the suicide note but it was “created” by the hostel staff. They alleged that Anjaneyulu (the auto driver), Shailaja (warden), Pratibha (PET), Bhuvaneshwari (tuition teacher), Sujatha and Sulochana (cooks) were responsible for her death.

“Based on the complaint filed by the parents, a case has been registered against these people and investigation is on,” Bhuvanagiri SI V Nagaraju said.

Bhuvanagiri ACP N Venkat Reddy said that cases have been registered against six persons, including the warden, and if their role is proven, they would alter the charges.

The police said that some notebooks and the suicide note purportedly written by the deceased will be sent to the lab for comparison.

The students alleged that CC cameras were installed in front of the hostel gate, but they are not working.

Meanwhile, the hostel staff said that the main gate of the hostel is locked at 8.30 pm and no one is allowed inside after that. The cooks leave the hostel after cooking the food, they said.

Courtesy : TNIE

Note: This news piece was originally published in thenewindianexpress.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Righ