Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, July 25: The parents of Manish Dhal, the Institute of Medical Science student who committed suicide at his college hostel Friday, said Saturday they had earlier pleaded to the vice-chancellor to allow their son to appear for the semester exams but in vain.
Manish (19) was a first year MBBS student of the institute and had committed suicide after being barred from the semester exams due to poor attendance. Manish’s mother Saraswati Dhal and father Narayan, a pharmacist, had a few weeks back travelled from their hometown in Jajpur district after Manish was barred from the semester exams.
His parents attempted to convince the VC to allow their son to appear for the exams but their pleas were turned down, they said.
“Manish’s mother pleaded to vice-chancellor Amit Banerjee a few weeks back with folded hands requesting that the boy be allowed to appear for the examinations but the VC refused,” said Nalinikant Parida, a cousin of Manish. Parida works in the city and earlier used to stay with Manish near Jaydev Vihar.
The reason for Manish’s low attendance was due to his health reasons. “Manish suffered from breathing problems. It was due to his poor health that his attendance dropped to as low as 38 per cent. It later got worse and he had to carry an inhaler with him through the day. His doctor asked him to rest at home for a month. A medical certificate was furnished by doctors in Jajpur which was submitted to the VC. Despite all this, the VC was unrelenting,” said Priyabrata Puhan, another cousin of Dhal who also runs a pharmacy in Nabarangpur.
Puhan said the VC did not just prevent Manish from writing the semester exams but also told Manish he would not be allowed to the classroom until he cleared all the papers by writing the supplementary exam. “This was a shock to my brother. He was dedicated in his studies and when the VC barred him from attending classes, he was heartbroken,” said Puhan.
VC Banerjee has maintained that Manish was barred from the exams only because of administrative rules, and said another 37 students were similarly barred.
Meanwhile, students of the institute met Governor SC Jamir and submitted a memorandum demanding a proper investigation into the incident and compensation for the family. Khandagiri police are investigating the case. A case is yet to be registered.
