An official noted that students in private colleges were more prone to ending their lives as they had the financial burden of huge fees.
Suicide. (Creative commons)
The Telangana State Board of Intermediate Education (TSBIE) announced the first and second-year Telangana Intermediate results on 24 April.
Since then, at least seven students have allegedly died by suicide across the state. As per the data collected by South First, one hailed from Hyderabad, while the other six were spread across districts throughout the state.
The majority of the students who allegedly ended their lives belonged to private colleges.
According to their parents, the students took the extreme step after failing in these exams.
Meanwhile, Tele MANAS — the counselling service offered by the National Health Mission (NHM) and the Telangana government through the toll-free number 14416 — has received as many as 84 calls from Intermediate students.
The service is provided by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare along with the governments to provide psychological and psychiatric help.
Nethi Yashaswini (18), a resident of the Mahabubabad district, was a first-year Intermediate student at the Nalanda Junior College. She died by suicide allegedly after failing the exam.
Her father Nethi Yakaiah, a farmer by profession, told South First: “My wife is illiterate and I studied till Standard 7. She chose civics, economics, and commerce and failed in one subject — economics.”
He recalled: “I went to my field, came back, and went to sleep, not knowing whose help she took to see the results. She took my phone and went outside.”
He then became angry: “I want to fight whoever abetted her because I fought for her to be born amid pressure to get her aborted. I fought and said they were my courage.”
He reminisced: “She would share anything with me. ‘Which subject should I take?’ she would ask. I told her to select them as per your wishes. Villagers used to suggest to her to take the ‘core’ subjects, because she could become a police officer as she had the height for it.”
Chippa Bhargavi (17) from the Chilukodu village of the Dornakal Mandal in the same district was a first-year Intermediate student at a government college. She, too, ended her life after failing the examination.
Her father Chippa Ganesh, also a farmer, told South First, “I could not afford a private college and my daughter used to score low over the years. However, we have never raised our voice at her.”
He recalled: “She was very tense about the results, and I assured her that we would send the papers for recounting if the marks were low.”
Ganesh explained: “She had chosen biology, physics, and chemistry as her subjects, and she just about passed in botany. She wanted to become a nurse and told everybody in the village as much.”
He reminisced: “She was an active kid and told everybody she would score good marks. She used to score scored 50-60 in all the subjects. Teachers are also in pain over the loss as they said she was very active.”
In the Mancherial district, three students died by suicide on 24 April.
Bellampalli ACP Sadaiah told South First that one case was reported on Wednesday in Tandur. M Satwik (18), a first-year Intermediate student at the Pragathi Junior College, died by suicide as he couldn’t pass all subjects.
Gattika Tejaswini (18) from Doragaripalli in Naspur died by suicide after she couldn’t obtain passing marks in two subjects.
Speaking to South First, Naspur SI Ravi Kumar M said, “As soon as the parents found her unresponsive, they rushed her to the hospital, but she was declared dead on arrival.”
Tejaswini was a first-year Intermediate at the Alpores College in Manchierial.
Another suicide from Mancherial was reported from the Srirampuram Police Station limits. Aravind Parmar (17), a first-year student at Vision Private College, died by suicide as he failed one subject.
According to police, Aravind’s father was an auto-rickshaw driver who worked hard to pay his son’s college fees. Aravind was feeling guilty as he failed despite his father’s hard work, said the cops.
Aravind’s sister was at first reluctant to speak, but eventually said: “My brother was a little upset. All the family members consoled him, pointing out that he could sit for the exams again.”
She said that he went to an empty area behind their house on the night of the results and ended his life. “He was worried about my parents’ hard work,” she added.
In Hyderabad, Sulthan Bazar SHO Srinivasa Chary confirmed that Uday Kiran (17), studying at a private college, died of suicide as he failed in four subjects.
Another boy, who has not been identified yet, was found dead near Jadcherla, near a railway track. Police suspect the reason for his death also to be poor performance in the exams.
Uday Kiran’s father Somaraju Pandu works at a printing press. He explained, “There was no pressure on my kid. On the day of results, we did assure him of paying the fee for the supplementary exams for the four subjects he failed, but he was depressed by the failure.”
According to the officials, 84 of the 129 calls received by Tele MANAS were from or pertained to Intermediate students.
Among them, 28 complained of extreme stress, 12 reported disturbed sleep and anxiety, while the remaining 44 complained of various other issues like reevaluation, hall tickets issues, and family conflicts.
Speaking to South First, a TSBIE official spoke of the steps taken to help distressed students.
“We counsel parents before the result announcement. We explain to them not to be upset with their kids, irrespective of the results,” he explained.
“We also counsel the students not to take extreme steps,” said the official, adding, “The number of suicides has been decreasing in Telangana.”
The official also noted that students in private colleges were more prone to taking the extreme step “as they have the additional financial burden of huge fees and the guilt of wasting their parents’ money”.
He also talked about future plans: “We were planning to conduct motivational videos with eminent personalities who succeeded in life despite failing in exams.”
(If you need support or know someone who has suicidal thoughts, please reach out to your nearest mental health specialist or contact the helpline numbers of suicide prevention organisations that can offer emotional support to individuals and families. Tele-MANAS: 14416; Life Suicide Prevention: 7893078930; Roshni: 9166202000, 9127848584.)
(Edited by Sumavarsha Kandula)
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