Zero in exam leads SC student, wife to suicide

Now, five months after his death, an inquiry conducted by Panjab University has found Assistant Prof Singh of Punjab Engineering College (PEC) guilty of academic impropriety and discrimination against the student. Jasbir (24), belonged to the SC category.

As per a complaint to Home Secretary R.S. Gujral, the assistant professor had some problem with Jasbir and wanted to ruin his career.

Jasbir applied for re-evaluation and scored 55 marks in the subject. As per rules, the university referred the paper to a third examiner, who awarded him 64 marks.

The university then marked an inquiry into the case. On August 24, the inquiry committee, headed by former Dean University Instructions (DUI) S.K. Sharma, found V.P. Singh guilty and debarred him from conducting exams for the next five years. PU Vice-Chancellor K.N. Pathak approved the verdict.

However, acting against PU’s orders, V.P. Singh went ahead and conducted an exam for five ME (Mechanical) students between October 2 and October 16 this year. He acted as an internal examiner.

Thirteen days later, on October 28 he filed a writ petition challenging PU’s orders in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The court has not given a stay to Singh. Now, another complaint has been made to the V-C urging him to take action against V.P. Singh for conducting the exam, despite being barred.

While all this was on, Jasbir, who had been making repeated rounds of the university for his re-evaluation result, committed suicide along with his newly-wed wife. They consumed poison near Sukhna Lake on June 20, this year. When the bodies of Jasbir and his wife Ishwinder Kaur (20) were found near the Sukhna, the police suspected the reason of suicide was their marriage against parent’s wishes.

But Jasbir’s family claims it was the zero marks that ended his life. ‘‘Ever since he was awarded a zero, Jasbir remained depressed. He had lost faith in the education system,’’ says his brother-in-law, Avtar Singh. Paramjit Kaur, one of Jasbir’s five sisters, says because of this he could not get a job.

His family does not know his re-evaluation score. ‘‘For six months, he kept going to the university almost every day, but they did not give him the result,’’ says Paramjit.

‘‘A few days before he killed himself, he told us that the university might declare his result soon.’’

Jasbir had come to Chandigarh to study and was staying with his brother-in-law in Sector 43. His parents live in Muktsar.