A first-year postgraduate medical student died in Hyderabad on Sunday night, four days after she allegedly attempted suicide.
26-year-old Dharavathi Preethi attempted suicide on Wednesday allegedly after being harassed by her senior at Kakatiya Medical College, police said. She was found unconscious after working the night shift at MGM Hospital and moved to Hyderabad in a critical condition.
On her father’s complaint, Mohammed Ali Saif, a second-year post-graduate student, was arrested by the police on charges of ragging, abetment to suicide and harassment under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
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Warangal police commissioner AV Ranganath told NDTV that the WhatsApp chats on the victim’s and the accused’s phones suggested ragging.
The student’s father Narender said they had complained against the senior student to the college and hospital authorities but no action was taken.
The victim’s family refused to allow the body to be moved from NIMS, Hyderabad for post-mortem and then to their native village for last rites.
Several lambada tribal unions also protested in front of NIMS at Hyderabad, Kakatiya Medical College, and MGM Hospital at Warangal.
The National Human Rights Commission and National Commission for SC / ST has taken cognisance and issued notices to the government, superintendent of MGM Hospital, principal, and head of department of anaesthesiology where Preethi was a student.
Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan had visited Preethi in hospital. A compensation of Rs 10 lakh has been announced for the family.
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