College student commits suicide, principal booked

A Khalsa College student has allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling fan of his hostel room here, the police said today.
Top college officials, including the principal, have been booked in connection with the incident, they added.
Harpreet Singh (22), a resident of Bathinda, took the extreme step last night as he was not allowed to appear in the BSc (agriculture) final year examination due to a poor attendance.
A section of the college students staged a protest today demanding a criminal case against the college management, including the principal and the class in-charge, for creating such a "grim" situation for the deceased to end his life.

The agitating students also blocked the busy GT Road, leading to a traffic snarl.
The students told the reporters that they had accompanied Harpreet to the principal and the registrar of the college, urging them to issue him the roll number for the exam.

The deceased had submitted an application, along with a medical certificate, which said that he was down with chikungunya, besides undergoing an eye surgery, leading to the shortage of attendance.
But, the college authorities did not issue the roll number to him, which would have enabled him to appear in the examination.
An FIR under section 306, IPC (abetment of suicide) was filed this afternoon against top college officials, including principal Mehal Singh, registrar Devender Singh and head of the agriculture department Randeep Kaur Bal.

No arrest was made so far, the police said.