2 girls commit suicide in minister-owned college in Andhra

Hyderabad - Opposition leader demands Narayana's arrest, suicide note says they were ending their lives because they couldn't cope with the pressures of academic studies.

Andhra Pradesh Municipal Administration Minister P Narayana is in deep trouble following the alleged suicide by two Intermediate students, P Nandini and Manisha Reddy, in their hostel room at Krishnapuram in Kadapa in Rayalseema region late on Monday evening. The college in which they were studying, Narayana Junior College, is part of a string of educational institutions owned by the minister.
Kadapa Superintendent of Police Navin Gulati said it appeared to be a case of suicide since the police had found a suicide note left behind by the girls alleging that they were ending their lives because they couldn't cope with the pressures of academic studies. "The note says that they were best friends and they decided to end their lives together as they were unable to handle the academic stress," the SP said. The parents of the girls, however, are not convinced and accused the college management of trying to suppress facts, stating that they suspected ragging being the cause of the tragedy.
Leader of the opposition Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, demanding a judicial inquiry into the incident, said the minister should be immediately arrested and second post-mortem of the bodies should be carried out in Hyderabad. Claiming that 11 students including nine girls and two boys had died in Narayana junior colleges in the state - four in Nellore, two each in Tirupati and Kadapa and one each in Anantapur, Kurnool and Krishna district - in the last 15 months, the YSR Congress President said Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu seemed totally unperturbed by the series of suicide incidents in the institutions owned by his ministerial colleague.
"Naidu has a stake in Narayana educational institutions which is why he is unconcerned," he alleged, and wondered if the chief minister would be silent if so many deaths occurred in any other institution. "The chief minister never cared to enquire about the deaths, visit the college or console the parents," Jagan, who was in Kadapa to console the parents, said, adding that a "love letter" theory was floated on Tuesday to save the college authorities and cast aspersions on the dead girls.
The YSRC has called for a total shutdown in Kadapa on Wednesday to press for the party's demand for the arrest of Narayana.
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