Kamal Ghorui
Panaji: Congress party on Monday, called for an independent judicial inquiry following the death of yet another student, the sixth death since Dec 2024, at the BITS Pilani Goa campus.State congress president Amit Patkar accused Goa govt of “criminal inaction” and institutional negligence, demanding accountability from both state authorities and the BITS Pilani management.“Six deaths on one campus are not a coincidence. They point to institutional negligence, unchecked academic pressure, and a dangerous absence of effective mental-health intervention,” Patkar said. He called the recurring deaths a “total collapse of student safety” and the premier educational institute.Congress said that a police case should be filed against the BITS Pilani management.The party also called for an immediate external mental-health and student-safety audit by independent experts.The party also wants govt-mandated compliance norms with penalties, including suspension of admissions for violations.“Chief minister Pramod Sawant must take direct and moral responsibility for these repeated deaths,” Patkar said.The party questioned why no judicial inquiry was ordered despite repeated fatalities, and why findings and corrective measures were kept hidden from the public.This is the first recorded case of a suicide by a woman student at the campus.Vaishnavi, 20, from Bengaluru, was pursuing her course in electronics and communication engineering. She died by hanging in her hostel room late on Sunday evening.
