A candlelight protest and march demanding justice for 20-year-old Vasavi Tomar, a BCA second-year student from Lucknow, was held today from I.T. Chauraha to Parivartan Chowk in the city. The protest, which drew participation from concerned citizens, rights groups, and academics, was organised in the wake of her suspicious death on 30 July at Graphic Era Hill University in Bhimtal, Nainital district, Uttarakhand.
Vasavi, daughter of Ramkrishna Tomar and a resident of Madiyav, Lucknow, had allegedly intervened to stop senior students from ragging a first-year nursing student who had recently joined her hostel. She had also formally complained about the incident to her hostel warden. According to the family, just a day after this confrontation, she was found hanging from a ceiling fan in her hostel room around 5:30 PM, soon after returning from class.
Despite the family's immediate travel to Bhimtal upon receiving the call, they were handed over Vasavi’s body in the hospital during the night. Her last rites were performed in Lucknow on 1 August. The family maintains that Vasavi was not suicidal and that the circumstances of her death strongly indicate foul play.
No FIR has yet been filed, and the university administration is reportedly uncooperative. There are also allegations that local media in Uttarakhand were discouraged from covering the incident.
Sandeep Pandey, academic and activist who joined the protest in Lucknow, said: “This is not merely a case of ragging or a possible suicide. It raises serious questions about the institutional cover-up and the silencing of media. Vasavi tried to stand up against injustice, and it cost her life. We demand a completely independent and impartial investigation and punishment for those responsible.”
The demonstrators reiterated their demand for a total eradication of ragging on campuses and called for urgent institutional reforms to ensure student safety.
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