2 cases in five days: Visakhapatnam Medical College rocked by students’ suicide
Medical Education Department has launched a probe into the matter. Officials said one of the deceased women had enquired if it was possible to quit the course mid-term while the other was stressed due to exams.
2 min readHyderabadUpdated: Sep 30, 2026 04:21 AM IST
Andhra medical college principal Dr K Sandhya Devi said neither of the students complained about anything to their seniors in the respective departments. (Photo: Wikipedia)
Two suicides in five days by female medical students have rocked Andhra Medical College at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, prompting the Medical Education Department to launch a probe.
On September 24, Dr P Sailaja, a final-year student of MD General Medicine, hanged herself at her house in Ramnagar. On September 28 morning, Y Sravani, a first-year PG student of ENT, hanged herself at her rented accommodation in Chinna Waltair.
Officials at Three Town police station said Dr Sailaja was upset that she did not perform well in the ongoing exams, and she discussed the same with her family members. Last Thursday, she had one more exam but instead of going to the college, she locked herself in her room and was found hanging by her parents.
Sravani, who hails from Hyderabad, was a first-year PG student. She left behind a suicide note saying nobody was to be blamed for her death. Sravani had completed her MBBS from Osmania University and enrolled for the PG at AMC. Her mother Padma said she was unhappy with the ENT course and wanted to quit and return to Hyderabad.
“As of now, it appears that stress and disappointment over bad performance in exams drove them to take the extreme step. There are indications that Sravani was probably homesick. We are talking to family members and friends and college administrators and exploring all the angles,” an official said.
Officials said Sravani had enquired if it was possible to quit the course mid-term and whether the college would return her MBBS certificates if she wanted to transfer elsewhere.
The medical college principal Dr K Sandhya Devi said neither of the students complained about anything to their seniors in the respective departments. “It is tragic and shocking. The campus has plunged into distress and grief; it is too much to process. We are offering support to families of both,” she said.
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Even as police are investigating, State Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav has requested Medical Education Director A Vishu Vardhan to probe the incidents.
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Sreenivas Janyala is a Deputy Associate Editor at The Indian Express, where he serves as one of the most authoritative voices on the socio-political and economic landscape of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. With a career spanning over two decades in mainstream journalism, he provides deep-dive analysis and frontline reporting on the intricate dynamics of South Indian governance.
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