Patiala Medical College student was under stress over non-acceptance of thesis: Cops on suicide

Patiala, July 23

Three days after a woman student of Government Medical College died by suicide, it has come to light that during the initial probe, the victim was upset as her thesis was not accepted. The police said the victim was a resident of Chennai and a final-year PG student in the Anaesthesia Department. They said she was preparing her thesis for the MD.

The police said the computer on which she had saved the file for her thesis crashed, and she had to make the thesis all over again. They said the thesis was due by July 15; however, it took her time to redo it, because of which it was not accepted, causing her stress.

Soon after her death, Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh ordered a committee to look into the matter. The college authorities were instructed to establish a separate committee to investigate the cause of the junior resident’s death.

Despite repeated attempts, Dr Pramod Kumar, the head of the anaesthesia department, was not available for comment. Dr Rajneesh Raj, Professor and Head of the Department of Psychiatry, said he was not in charge of the medical college as he was on vacation. Earlier in the month, Dr Rajan Singla resigned from the post, citing a health issue.

Stress-related problems were not uncommon among students at the medical institute. A recent study conducted at Government Medical College revealed that 78 (52 percent) of 150 first-year MBBS students experienced poor sleep quality.

The details came to light during the Continuing Medical Education (CME) session on sleep health, organised by the department of physiology at Government Medical College.