Lucknow: A 26-year-old hearing and speech impaired student, Anjali Yadav, was found allegedly hanging in her hostel room on the campus of Dr Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University (DSMNRU) here in the State Capital.
She was rushed to the Lok Bandhu hospital where she was declared dead.
Anjali was a student in the B.Ed second semester. Students alleged that several B.Ed students, including Anjali, had got low scores in a subject on the semester examination and had asked for re-evaluation, which was rejected by the university officials.
"Since all the girls in the hostel are speech impaired, they could not call up university officials or raise an alarm. They tried to break open the door and succeeded after repeated attempts," a boy hosteller said through sign language.
He added that all the hostel girls were shivering and had broken down while sharing how challenging it was for them to make an attempt to save Anjali. Earlier, fit students also lived in the hostel and would help their differently abled batchmates.
He said that now only a single student lives in one hostel room due to COVID-19. Hence, even if any problem is faced by the differently abled student, they have to come out of the room and seek help from students who don't have the same disability.
Chief Medical Superintendent, Lok Bandhu Hospital, said Anjali was brought dead to the hospital by university guards and students.
"We informed the police, and the body has been sent for a post-mortem examination. "Prima facie, it appears to be a case of hanging," Tripathi added.
In 2018, a B.Ed fourth semester student, Parul, committed suicide in the hostel. The Assistant Commissioner of Police, Kakori, Aditya Vikram Singh, said that they were informed by the university administration while no suicide note was recovered. "We have also not received any complaints from the university administration in connection with the incident," he added.
After several DSMNRU students staged a protest by blocking the Mohan Road highway and demanding justice for B.Ed students, a large police force was deployed on campus to maintain law and order. They raised slogans against the university administration, alleging that in 2018, a student had committed suicide in the girls' hostel, but no probe was ordered.
