JNU Student Commits Suicide in Campus Reading Room

Rishi Joshua, a 24-year-old final year MA student from the Centre for English Studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in the morning on May 17. Joshua was found dead, hanging in a reading room in the basement of School of Language, Literature and Cultural Studies of the University.

Few students told NewsClick that Joshua was suffering from depression and anxiety problems since sometime. According to his classmates, the faculty of Centre for English Studies have been supportive towards Joshua.

One of his classmates, who wanted remain anonymous told NewsClick that Joshua had missed a final semester exam on Thursday. Also, he told his classmates that he wanted to apply for ‘Zero Semester’ on medical grounds. If registered for zero semester, students can study the semester’s courses in the next academic year.

While no suicide note was left behind, Joshua had sent a scheduled mail to one of the chairperson of Centre for English Studies. Vasant Kunj police station has filed a suicide case and the dead body was taken to Safdarjung hospital for post-mortem. The University informed Joshua’s family about the incident, who are yet to reach Delhi.

Terming the incident as very unfortunate, Aejaz Ahmed Rather, General Secretary of JNU Students’ Union told NewsClick, “We are demanding an independent enquiry from the University in this matter.”

Joshua was a resident in the varsity’s Mahi Mandavi hostel. He hails from Vellore District in Tamil Nadu.