A second-year engineering student jumped to death from the third floor of the college building in Andhra Pradesh. The student has been identified as Rudra Murthy, studying at the Sreenivasa Institute of Technology and Management Studies (SITAMS) in Chittoor district.
The incident comes four days after another engineering student, Nandini Reddy, from the same college jumped from the third floor. She is currently under treatment and is in a critical state.
A Rejected Love Proposal
The CCTV footage shows Rudra climbing on to a wall of the college building on Monday afternoon, around 2:10. He balances, walks to the right and then peeps into a corridor. It is unclear if he is trying to have a conversation with someone or just check if somebody is overseeing. He stands still for a few seconds before jumping off the third floor. He was taken to a hospital in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, where he died during treatment.
According to the Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Sainath, Rudra was disheartened after a girl rejected his proposal.
“Rudra Murthy proposed to another second-year student. She said, ‘Let us graduate and get jobs. I have no interest in committing myself at this point. And even then, I intend to do only with my parent’s approval’. He asked his friends to take care of her and jumped,” Sainath told NDTV.
Video of Rudra’s relative being pushed by the circle inspector, leading to her fall down a flight of stairs has emerged online. The incident happened when the family was to enter the premises to demand justice.
“The woman was inciting students who were outside to barge in and ransack the place. The situation could have been handled better, Sainath said.
The aggressive police action against the distressed relatives of the student has inflamed public anger and raised questions about the handling of the crisis by the local authorities.
Academic Pressure
Nandini Reddy, a third-year B.Tech ECE, or Bachelor of Technology in Electronics and Communication Engineering student, jumped from the third floor of the academic block, reportedly after she was denied permission to attend a crucial lab examination.
Reddy sustained serious injuries and was immediately taken to the Chittoor Government Hospital and later shifted to Vaidehi Hospital in Bengaluru, where she is currently undergoing treatment.
“Nandini was apparently under academic pressure. She had not completed her lab records along with 14 others and was reprimanded. She had some health issues too that is suspected to have driven her to take an extreme step,” Sainath said.
The girl’s family had protested after the college management reportedly went silent after initially promising to pay for all treatment costs.
Her condition continues to be critical.
While both incidents are under investigation, the back-to-back tragedies have once again put the spotlight on the mental health support systems, or lack thereof, to help students cope with academic and other pressures.