Odisha govt seeks status report from police on BJB College student death case

BHUBANESWAR: The higher education department has sought a status report from deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Bhubaneswar in the probe on the suicide case of BJB Autonomous College student Ruchika Mohanty. This alleged case of ragging had rocked the state in July this year.
Higher education department secretary Bishnupada Sethi on Tuesday wrote a letter to Bhubaneswar DCP Prateek Singh requesting him to submit a present inquiry status report on the matter of Ruchika Mohanty suicide case.
“We will submit the report with due process. Our investigation is up to date, so we will not wait for the report. We can submit it immediately,” said DCP Prateek Singh.
On July 2, Mohanty, a Plus III first year girl student of the state’s premier BJB Autonomous College, was found dead in her hostel room. The deceased student, who hails from Athagarh in Cuttack district, was staying in Karubaki Hostel of the college. Her body was found inside the hostel room number 201. In a note, the girl had written that she was tortured by three seniors.
Deceased’s parents Ganeswar Mohanty and Bidulata Mohanty had staged demonstrations in front of the college for several days demanding justice. They alleged that the girl was depressed due to ragging by seniors of her college. Student organisations had also staged demonstrations in this case.
They were demanding a CBI probe into the circumstances that prompted her to kill herself.
Following this incident, the higher education department on August 3 directed colleges and universities to take preventive measures against ragging in the campuses following the regulations of the University Grants Commission (UGC). According to the department direction, for every established case of ragging or abetment of ragging, the institution should file FIR with the local police.