The alleged suicide of a third-year student of Amity law School, Noida, on August 10, led to protests at Amity University on Wednesday, with the students demanding resignation of two law teachers for their alleged role in the incident.
Sushant Rohilla took the drastic step after being barred by the Amity administration from appearing in the exams, due to poor attendance, reports said. The bright law student hung himself on August 10 at his Sarojini Nagar residence.
Amity is affiliated to Guru Gobind Indraprastha University and 75 per cent attendance is a must to appear in the examinations.
Rohilla’s family claimed Sushant’s fractured leg was the reason behind his low attendance. Though, the suicide note does not give the reason of suicide, his sister, Mehak Rohilla shared an email of her brother, which he had addressed to Amity founder Ashok Chauhan, requesting him not to be debarred.
“My brother was suffering from fracture in leg and he did not attend classes properly. The university administration did not acknowledge his pleas,” said Mehak.
In an email written to the Amity founder Ashok Chauhan on May 11, he wrote, “I will not be able to mentally survive this if I am debarred”.
Rohilla’s father Jagdish Kumar, a joint secretary in the Rajya Sabha, blamed college professors for his son’s tragic death. Expressing his grief on the social media, he wrote, “I am proud of my son he was not a soldier but he sacrificed his life for the cause of hundreds of students of Amity law School. My son was not a coward. He brought accolades to the college. He was loved by all. His suicide was provoked by some official of the institute over trivial but illegal arbitrary issue. No students should even be tortured over attendance. No student ever should even be compelled even contemplate such step. I will get my son justice,”
However, Amity University has sent two of its faculty members on leave and set-up a six- member committee to probe the death of a student whose family has accused college authorities of abetting suicide.
Savita Mehta, Amity spokesperson said, “The Amity law School, Delhi, is affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh IP University. The students were detained as per the decision of that varsity and Amity law School, itself, had absolutely no role. Earlier, the officials had approached the victim’s family members to explain about the procedure”.
The spokesperson said the student was debarred from appearing in the 6thsemester exams in May due to “shortage of attendance.”
“Rohilla had 43 per cent attendance, while the IP University mandates that a student should have at least 75 per cent attendance. This was conveyed to his parents many a times through e-mails. The attendance, as per the rules of IP University, was sent to IPU, which issues admit cards to the students for examinations,” she said.
Of the 19 students who have been debarred, a second year student, Dhruv Rajpal, suffered from chicken pox and faces a similar situation, Mehta added.
Indraprastha University rules state that only 5 per cent concession is granted for medical leave. Guidelines for law colleges state that students must have 75 per cent attendance for each paper. Attendance is condoned for activities like debates, moots etc, said Mehta.
Meanwhile, Rohilla’s family said he was not given concession for extra-curricular activities, for which he also missed some classes.