Telangana: Medical student dies days after she attempted suicide due to ragging

A postgraduate medical student in Telangana’s Warangal died on Sunday, four days after she tried to kill herself, died on Sunday, PTI reported. She was undergoing treatment after she tried at Hyderabad’s Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences.

Dharavath Preethi, who was from the Scheduled Tribes community, was found unconscious in the staff room of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital while on duty on February 22, according to The Indian Express.

Preethi was a second-year MD anaesthesia student at Kakatiya Medical College, and was reportedly being harassed by her senior Mohammed Saif. He was arrested on February 24.

After the arrest, Warangal Police Commissioner AV Ranganath said that posts on social media and personal chats between Preethi and Saif point towards a case of ragging, ANI reported. Besides abetment of suicide, the police have also charged Said under sections related to ragging and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

On Sunday, tensions prevailed at the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, reported The Times of India.

A police team was deployed to disperse student protestors and family members, who stopped the ambulance carrying Preethi’s body for autopsy. “I want a detailed report about what treatment was given to my daughter in the last four days,” her father said, according to The New Indian Express.

He also demanded compensation of Rs 5 crore and a government job for one of the family members.

Telangana Health Minister T Harish Rao offered his condolences to Preethi’s family, reported The New Indian Express.

“Medical team in NIMS worked tirelessly to save her,” T Harish Rao said. “We thought that Dr Preethi would come back completely healthy, but she went to the world of no return.”

Panchayat Raj Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh.