Medical student, daughter of brick kiln labourers, ends life in Nanded; NCP leader booked

Nanded, March 7 (PTI) A 25-year-old student from a private homoeopathic medical college in Maharashtra’s Nanded died by suicide, following which police booked a local NCP leader for alleged abetment, an official said on Saturday.

Akanksha Munjaji Gaikwad, whose parents work as brick kiln labourers, had been staying in a private hostel in the city’s HUDCO area for the past two years.

The second-year student was found hanging from a ceiling fan in her hostel room on Friday.

Police said the hostel is owned by NCP leader Jeevan Ghogre Patil, a former leader of opposition in the Nanded Municipal Corporation.

In a complaint to the police, Akanksha's father Munjaji Gaikwad alleged that the hostel owner had been repeatedly pressuring his daughter over pending hostel fees for the past eight to ten months.

“He frequently demanded the outstanding fees and mentally harassed my daughter. Unable to bear the pressure, she took the extreme step,” the father said in his complaint.

Based on the complaint, Nanded Rural police have registered a case against Ghogre Patil for abetment to suicide and under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, an official said.

Police said that more than 40 girls are staying at the hostel on a “cot-basis”, with each student allegedly paying around Rs 2,500 per month. PTI COR NR