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Several have cried out that there was possible foul-play and administrative negligence behind a fourth year MBBS student’s alleged suicide at the Chandka Medical College (CMC) in Larkana on Wednesday, as it was the second case of a similar nature to have surfaced at the college since 2019.
A student at CMC was found hung from the ceiling in a hostel room, which has been alleged as a suicide case after a note was found on a table. Earlier in 2019, a final year BDS student was also found dead in mysterious conditions in a hostel room, which too was an alleged suicide. The student’s final post-mortem report contradicted the claim.
Taking note of the incident, lawyer Mohammad Jibran Nasir said on Facebook that two alleged suicides on the same campus merited ‘mandatory provision’ counselling services at the least. Nasir said that the administration must take steps to figure out what was bothering students at educational institutes.
Others on Twitter seemed to agree with Nasir as a medical student said that ‘mental health care units’ and ‘counselling’ services must be formed at universities as this was the second case of its nature at CMC.
One user said that the rising incidence of alleged suicides on campus was caused by ‘unfair university policies, economic exploitation, unnecessary mental stress and social unrest’. He insisted that campuses must be rescued from these evils.
Another user posted the notice circulated by CMC in the wake of the tragedy, according to which hostels were shut down and exams were postponed. The user said that this was a way to silence ‘student activism’ and those asking for justice on campus.
While some said the alleged suicide was in part the administration faltering, others had a graver approach and said that the fact that it was the second suicide, cast a dark shadow over the nature of the incident.
Pakistan Students Federation Karachi Division Deputy General Secretary Shareef Hussain opined that a ‘free and fair inquiry’ should be launched into the ‘mysterious’ incident, which appeared to be a homicide.
Echoing Hussain’s words, a user claimed that suicide was being used as a cover for what was murder. He said that concerned authorities must provide justice to the aggrieved families quickly.
Another user said that if the previous victim from 2019 was provided justice, the new case would not have surfaced. He asserted that the latest incident was a murder like the last one, and that authorities had failed to deliver justice.
While several have claimed the student’s death to be a murder, journalist Mubashir Zaidi posted a copy of the post-mortem report and said that its results were consistent with the claim that it was a case of suicide. Zaidi said that no signs of resistance or violence were recorded in the report.
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