The Jammu and Kashmir Students Association on Monday has written to Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, seeking his urgent intervention and a time-bound judicial inquiry into the tragic suicide of Shweta Singh, a final-year BDS student from the Doda district of Jammu & Kashmir. Shweta died by suicide on the night of 24th July 2025 at Pacific Dental College and Research Centre, Udaipur.
In its letter addressed to the Chief Minister, the Association’s National Convenor, Nasir Khuehami, expressed deep anguish over what it described as a horrifying case of institutional failure, harassment, and academic exploitation that ultimately drove Shweta to take her own life. The Association called the tragedy a brutal consequence of a corrupt academic culture that failed to protect a young woman who had travelled far from home to pursue her dreams.
The Association stated that Shweta Singh was subjected to two years of relentless mental harassment, humiliation, and pressure from faculty members Naini Jain (referred to as Mahi Ma’am) and Bhagwat Singh (Bhagwat Sir), whom she directly named in her handwritten suicide note. The note, discovered by students and circulated on social media out of fear that the administration might attempt to suppress it, paints a harrowing picture of continuous harassment, bribe demands, and academic victimization. Shweta alleged that students who did not pay bribes were deliberately failed, denied exams, and subjected to psychological distress.
Khuehami emphasized that Shweta’s exams had been blocked for over a year and a half, her degree deliberately withheld, and that she had been pushed into the “odd batch” and forced to work with junior students; all tactics allegedly used by the accused faculty to break her spirit and extract money. In her note, Shweta wrote: “They kept sucking the blood of those who didn’t pay. I no longer have the strength to endure this… Bhagwat should be in permanent jail… I just wanted to be free.”
Equally disturbing was the series of failures and insensitivities that followed her death. Her roommate reportedly informed authorities around 11:00 p.m. on the night of the incident, but no college official, warden, or emergency medical help arrived. Students were left to carry her body down six floors on their own. The room remained untouched and unsealed for hours, leaving vital evidence exposed to contamination or destruction. According to the Association, it was only after massive student protests erupted that the authorities acknowledged the existence of the suicide note and moved to file a case.
Khuehami stated that the FIR in the case was filed only three days later, after Shweta’s grieving parents arrived and joined the protest. Shockingly, the FIR failed to mention the full names and designations of the accused; a move the Association believes was a deliberate attempt to dilute the case and shield those responsible. The students who spoke to the police or the media were allegedly harassed by college officials, warned that their degrees would be withheld, and had their parents contacted and pressured into silence, he said.
The Association expressed outrage that, despite such serious charges and a clear suicide note, no arrests have been made. Since the matter pertains to abetment of suicide, which is a cognizable, non-bailable offence punishable with up to ten years of rigorous imprisonment, the lack of immediate arrests is unacceptable, the Association said. It further described the college’s action of expelling the accused faculty members as mere “cosmetic damage control.”
Highlighting systemic issues within private dental colleges, the Association said that Shweta’s case reflects a deeply entrenched pattern of corruption and abuse, where students are pushed into academic limbo, denied progression, and subjected to psychological torture, particularly when they refuse to pay bribes. It emphasized that Shweta’s death has now created a climate of fear among hundreds of Jammu and Kashmir students studying in Rajasthan, many of whom are now afraid to speak up, fearing they might be the next victim.
Khuehami urged the Rajasthan Chief Minister to ensure the immediate arrest and custodial interrogation of Naini Jain and Bhagwat Singh, and to order a time-bound judicial inquiry led by a retired High Court judge. He also called for strict legal action against college officials who delayed filing the FIR, destroyed or tampered with evidence, and intimidated witnesses. He also requested protection for students who have spoken out and demanded the creation of a regulatory mechanism to prevent such harassment and academic exploitation in private colleges across the state. (KDC)
