By A second-year student of Lady Shri Ram College for Women died by suicide last week at her hometown in Telangana, citing financial troubles in a purported suicide note. Her father, who is a motorcycle mechanic in Ranga Reddy district, said she was an IAS aspirant but the family was unable even to buy her a second-hand laptop to pursue online classes during the pandemic.
According to local police, Aishwarya Reddy, a B.Sc. Mathematics (Honours) student, hanged herself at her home in Shadnagar on November 2. The family of the 19-year-old, who had scored 98.5 per cent in Class 12, said she left behind a note written in Telugu. “Because of me, my family is facing many financial problems. I am a burden for my family. My education is a burden. If I can’t study, I can’t live,” the note reads.
Aishwarya’s father Srinivas Reddy said that when Aishwarya got admission to the prestigious college last year, he had mortgaged their one-bedroom house for Rs 2 lakh. “I am still repaying the loan,” said Reddy, who opened his own repair shop this March.
“I had to shut within a month due to the lockdown and although I reopened, business has been slow. My daughter had returned home in February after the college closed. In October, she asked if I could buy her a laptop as online classes had started and she was finding it difficult to attend them on her phone. She said even a used laptop would do. I told her to wait for a few days. She did not ask again. A few days later, she mentioned that the scholarship amount she was supposed to receive was delayed,” he said.
LSR principal Suman Sharma said Aishwarya had not reached out to the college for financial assistance: “It is a huge loss for us and it is very unfortunate that we were unable to help her. However, she had never approached any teacher from the mathematics department or hostel authorities with her issues. The college has many schemes and scholarships but she never asked for assistance. We also have many mechanisms for mental health help, but unfortunately she had not reached out for those either.”
