MAKAUT: Classes, exams suspended due to protests over female student's death

KOLKATA: Classes and internal examinations were on Tuesday suspended at the main campus of the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology (MAKAUT) in West Bengal’s Haringhata, due to protests over the death of a female student, who had allegedly jumped from the fifth floor.

The MTech student had reportedly jumped from the five-storied Academic Building on Monday, shortly after she was "caught cheating" during an examination, officials said.

She was taken to the Haringhata Rural Hospital where doctors declared her dead. Claiming that no ambulance driver was around when she was lying on the ground, the protesting students said they had to eventually arrange an e-rickshaw after 15-20 minutes, and that she died on way to hospital.

Students demand action on incident

"We demand a probe into the incident and action against those responsible for the delay in taking her to hospital. The ambulance driver must be punished," a student of the varsity said. Officiating Vice-Chancellor Tapas Chakraborty said, “The girl was seen adopting unfair means while writing her papers... Apparently, she found the whole episode insulting and took the extreme step. The MAKAUT community is shocked and we are with the family.”

The internal examinations began at the Haringhata campus on February 5. The state-run university was recently in the news after a purported viral video showed a senior female professor “marrying” a student inside a classroom. The professor concerned had later mailed her resignation letter.