'Justice For Yashaswini': Bengaluru Dental Student, Harassed And Humiliated By Lecturer, Ends Life

New Delhi: A 23-year-old student from Oxford Dental College in Bengaluru's Bommanahalli was found hanging at her home in Chandapura's Head Master Layout on Friday. 

The victim, identified as third-year student B. Yashaswini from the Oral Medicine and Radiology Department, left a suicide note that reportedly did not name any specific individuals. 

After missing classes on Wednesday due to an eye issue, Yashaswini upon returning, was reportedly targeted by a faculty member. Her mother, Parimala, claims a lecturer harassed and publicly humiliated her in front of her peers that day. 

She stated that the lecturer mocked her daughter's eye condition, sarcastically asking if she had used an entire bottle of eye drops. 

Parimala added that a professor at the college had prevented her daughter from taking part in the seminar and "harassed" her for not making a presentation.

Parimala criticized the college, saying they should have contacted her directly rather than harassing her "very sensitive" daughter.  

FIR registered

Amid public outcry over the incident and a complaint filed by the victim’s mother, the Suryanagar police have registered a First Information Report (FIR) against five faculty members, including the principal of the college.

The complaint details a pattern of severe and continuous mental abuse directed at Yashaswini by her lecturers. Beyond being publicly shamed for her skin color and having her professional aspirations mocked, she was reportedly subjected to insults regarding her clothing and insensitive taunts about her eye condition. 

Additionally, the lecturers allegedly sabotaged her education by barring her from seminars and withholding required radiology casework. Her family is now demanding justice and strict legal penalties for those involved as the police investigation continues.

Protests Staged

On Friday, the campus of a private dental college in southern Bengaluru became the site of a massive demonstration as hundreds of students gathered to demand accountability following her death where demands calling for an immediate action against faculty members allegedly involved in her harassment were raised.

Holding her photograph and raising slogans like 'Justice for Yashaswini', the protesters accused the college management of creating a hostile environment for students.

Parimala also joined a group of her daughter’s classmates and fellow students to stage a protest outside the college hospital’s mortuary, where the autopsy was being performed. During the demonstration, she demanded that the college principal personally come to the mortuary to face the grieving family and students.

Also Read: US President Donald Trump Posts 'Wikipedia Edit' Labelling Himself ‘Acting President of Venezuela’