Suicide In Media College (S.I.M.C)

On the 13^th of September 2012, Rishik Sharad, a first year student of a media college in Pune was found hanging in his hostel room.

Subsequently, their film fest which was supposed to begin on the 14^th got postponed. I learnt of the film fest being postponed before I had learnt of the suicide. I found it strange because after a couple of fests with downright poor turnout because of their marketing skills (by the way, marketing happens to be one of the subjects students of this institute specialize in), the students had actually managed to build up some hype around this particular fest, only to postpone it a day before it was supposed to be held. Hence, I found it odd and highly unprofessional. Within a few hours, I learnt of the incident which had led to the fest getting cancelled.

Being a strong believer in the power of social media, I tweeted the incident, along with a few legal provisions dealing with suicide (which being a law student, I am intrinsically interested in), with the relevant articles which had been published on online newspapers.

In the next few hours, my facebook inbox was flooded with abusive messages, accusing me of being unethical and trying to blow an issue out of proportion from students and ex-students of this “reputed” institute. I also received several phone calls regarding the same, asking me to remove the posts immediately. I still fail to see how disseminating information about an event (which by the way is already available on several news websites) amounts to blowing it out of proportion.

Now let us look at the irony of this situation.

As soon as the incident happened, the students were informed not to post the incident on twitter/ facebook/ other social networking websites. One of the students also wanted me to remove my posts citing college authorities of the media institute, who I’m not bound to obey under any circumstance. According to rumours, media houses had also been called by this institute in order to not circulate the news. If they did, clearly it didn’t work.

                

The messages and calls I received accused me of hurting the lost soul’s sentiments. Now, what I find strange is that none of the posts are directed at the student who has lost his life. A teenager losing his life is indeed a sad incident. However, I fail to understand how tweeting the relevant news articles might hurt his, his parents’ or his friends’ sentiments.

The freedom of speech and expression is guaranteed to me by the Constitution of India under Article 19(1)(a).  The freedom of the press has also been allowed under the same article.

Also, these media students are the same ones who cry for a free press all the time, only to conveniently change their stance, if the matter relates to them or their institution. If this is the standard of journalists and media personnels which are being churned out, I have a bad feeling as to where the Indian press is headed in the years to come.

A student also came and pointed out to me that some of the newspaper reports were factually incorrect, since some of the reports had got the first name of the deceased wrong, and had reported that college had started 6 months ago, instead of 3 months.

As far as I’m concerned, the first name really makes no difference to the fact that a student opted to take his life. As for the second allegation, it only has bearing if the college or the college authorities had a role to play in the boy taking his life. In no way am I hinting that was what happened  in this case, but there is always the slight possibility.

Now, if a certain person(s) has done any act which led to this unfortunate event, the person(s) can be booked under Section 306 and Section 107 of the Indian Penal Code for abetment of suicide, and if that is found out to be the case after police investigations, I sincerely hope that the proceedings are carried out and the concerned people are put behind bars, for the sake of justice, good conscience and equity.

A few weeks back I had lost a dear friend of mine in a car accident and had tweeted about the same. Incidentally, it was a professor from this very same institute who had pointed out that it was the girl’s fault, according to what he had read in newspapers reports. It was he who taught me how to differentiate between something based on facts/logic/reports and emotion. As a third person I have the right to read articles on a public forum, share those articles and even have my own opinions on them. I see nothing wrong with propagating my opinions formed on the basis of newspaper articles, just as the professor had nothing wrong in propagating his.

The icing on the cake was when one of these guys accused me of defamation. Now, I do not blame him for his lack of intellect, or ignorance, for that matter. However, even if a person considers a certain statement to be defamatory, truth is a justification to defamation and prima facie the burden of proof is on the other person to prove that defamation has occurred. So far, none of them have been able to provide me with a valid justification as to how defamation has occurred.

As a concluding statement, I shall reiterate that while tweeting, I did not intend to offend the family members and friends of the deceased. And provided they are prudent men and women, they would have found nothing offensive in the reports being circulated. However, the state of wannabe journos in our country has left me with a sense of disgust. It is because of people like these, that our country is still in such a horrible state. Simply because they have the power (mind you, I say power, not gift) of the gab and decide to use it to their convenience.

I sincerely hope that they realize where they have gone wrong, instead of trying to go on with a failed cause of trying to make me stop posting, because clearly, just like the fests that they have formerly hosted, their efforts are going in vain for a cause which will eventually turn out to be unsuccessful.

Instead, let us mourn the loss of a young life, and sincerely hope, that if there were any people who led him to take his life, they are held accountable for their actions.



For the benefit of the readers, here are the links to the news articles which were published:

Indian Express: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/teen-hangs-self-in-hostel-room-motive-not-clear/1002401
TOI: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Symbiosis-student-of-mass-communication-found-dead-in-hostel-room/articleshow/16391161.cms
NDTV: http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/symbiosis-student-from-hyderabad-kills-himself-in-hostel-267053