AIIMS student dies by suicide on railway track

Rajkot: A 26-year-old final-year MBBS student of AIIMS Rajkot committed suicide by jumping in front of a train near Para Pipapliya, a few kilometres from the AIIMS campus, early on Saturday.The deceased, Ratan Kumar Meghwal, was from Jaisalmer in Rajasthan. His body was found on the tracks between Ghanteshwar and Para Pipaliya. "He committed suicide between 4.30am and 5.00am. We informed his parents and sent the body for a postmortem. We are recording statements of his colleagues, faculty members and the AIIMS authorities," said P B Varotariya, sub-inspector of Gandhigram police station. Meghwal had on Jan 27 disappeared from his hostel without informing anyone on after writing a long suicide note. He alleged harassment by a fellow student and mentioned secret romantic feelings for a woman student. After a 12-hour search, he was found at Para Pipaliya village. Sources said he had tried to end his life at that time as well, but villagers had intervened and alerted the police. Lt Col Ankur Pratap Singh, deputy director (administration) of AIIMS, said, "He was mentally disturbed. After he was found after going missing, we counselled him, and on the second day, his parents took him home to Rajasthan. Since then, he was in the custody and care of his parents. What we know is he received psychiatric care. His mentor from his department was in touch with him, and his condition was improving, and he was supposed to resume his studies soon." Gandhigram police informed the family, who are on their way to Rajkot to collect the body. Police recovered Meghwal's mobile phone, laptop, essential documents and AIIMS ID card from the tracks. A suicide note in Marwari was also found and is in police custody. Investigators will seek details from his parents regarding its contents. Statements of doctors, hospital staff and hostel staff associated with him will also be recorded. Assistant commissioner of police (South Zone) B J Chaudhri said, "We recovered a suicide note from his pocket, which is being analyzed. We also recovered his laptop, mobile, pocket diary, ID card and medical file from the scene." Police are awaiting mobile location data to determine when he came to Rajkot and where he went after arriving. According to sources, AIIMS had begun an internal inquiry into Meghwal's allegations after his earlier disappearance. "The students who were named in his suicide note had filed a complaint of harassment against him. Some students and their parents were concerned after the deceased posted about them on social media. The internal inquiry was underway and Meghwal's statement was to be recorded once he rejoined college," an AIIMS official said.