College official says she wrote an apology letter confessing to theft after being ‘caught’ on May 26. Her father alleges she was being ragged, files police complaint
What drove Trupti Makwana, second year MBBS student of B J Medical College, to attempt suicide?
WHAT IS THE TRUTH?
Dean’s version: Trupti wrote an apology letter in front of me on May 26, confessing to stealing hostelmates’ belongings
Father’s complaint says: Hostelmates cooked up a theft story to harass Trupti. On May 25, they locked her up in the guest room and forced her to write the confession letter
THE MYSTERY: Notes in ‘her’ diary revealing her ‘vulnerability to wrongdoing’ and the letter bear seemingly different handwritings
A 20-year-old girl pursuing second year MBBS at B J Medical College attempted suicide by slashing her wrist on Wednesday. The student, Trupti Makwana, was asked to vacate the hostel after she was found ‘guilty’ of theft, last month.
ut the girl’s father alleges she was a victim of ragging and that the theft story was all made-up by her hostelmates to harass her. He has even filed a complaint against the hostelmates at Limbdi police station.
Refuting the father’s allegation, the college dean Dr Bharat Shah told Mirror that Trupti had confessed to the crime in an apology letter duly signed by her in his presence. “She wrote an apology letter in front of me on May 26, the day she was caught. Her mother and sister also signed on the letter before taking her back to Limbdi. We have been very lenient as she has yet not been suspended. She has only been asked to leave the hostel,” he said.
Trupti, who survived the suicide attempt, is currently undergoing treatment at the civil hospital in Limbdi. Meanwhile, angry members of National Students Union of India, stormed the college and ransacked its chambers, alleging the girl was a victim of ragging.
Dr Shah denies the girl was a victim of ragging. “On May 26, around 40 girls staying in C Block of the girl’s hostel submitted a complaint to me stating they suspected the girl of stealing their belongings. When her room was searched, we found 10 T-shirts, five denim trousers, a mobile phone, a wallet and a debit card from her cupboard. She even confessed to having stolen them. Where is the question of ragging, here?”
He also claims to have found a diary from her room, believed to be hers. The contents of the diary, he says, reveals her “vulnerability to wrongdoing”.
One of the lines reads: “Chori karvi, dagakhori karvi, laanch, rishvat, ej aajni lakshmi na sadhano chhe.” (Theft, betrayal and bribe are tools used to make money).
Another reads: “Doctor thhaine pann bey number no dhandho karvo.” (Even after becoming a doctor, one has to resort to illegal means to make money).
But one cannot overlook the fact that the two handwritings — one in the diary and the other in the apology letter — seem to be different.
Trupti’s father, Natwarlal Makwana, a technician with Doordarshan Kendra in Limdi, has filed a harassment complaint against the girls who accused her of theft.
He told Mirror: “My daughter is a victim of ragging. On May 25, when she came back to her room after lunch, she saw somebody’s tiffin box in her cupboard.
“The tiffin, had the name ‘Amita’ inscribed on it. When she went to return it to Amita, all the while thinking how did it end up in her cupboard, the girl accused her of stealing the tiffin box.
“The other girls joined in and began accusing her of theft, some even beat her up. They locked her in the guest room and forced her to write a letter confessing she has been stealing stuff. When she tried contacting me, the girls snatched her cellphone away. We tried to get in touch with her, but to no avail.”
Meanwhile, the girl, in her statement to Limdi police, has accused her hostelmates of harassing her.
Constable G R Bhavsar said: “She has stated in her complaint that the girls kept harassing her under one pretext or another. They first accused her of stealing a tiffin box and later on a mobile phone.
“She also stated she had never stolen anything.”
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