A tragic case has emerged from Government Degree College Dharamshala where a 19-year-old female student died on December 26 in a Ludhiana hospital after allegedly suffering mental trauma due to assault, threats, and obscene behavior by three fellow students and a professor. Police have registered an FIR under anti-ragging laws following a complaint by the victim’s father.
Based on the family’s complaint, Dharamshala police have registered an FIR under BNS Sections 75, 115(2), 3(5) and Section 3 of the Himachal Pradesh Educational Institutions (Prohibition of Ragging) Act 2009.
The case marks a serious escalation in what has become a controversial matter involving allegations of ragging, harassment, and institutional negligence at the Dharamsala college.
According to the complaint filed by the deceased student’s father, his 19-year-old daughter was a second-year student at Dharamshala College. On September 18 last year, three female students from the same college assaulted his daughter and threatened her.
More seriously, the complaint makes grave allegations of obscene behavior against a college professor with the student. The father claims these incidents left his daughter mentally traumatized and fearful, leading to continuous deterioration of her health.
The family states that they treated their daughter at various hospitals as her condition worsened. Despite medical interventions, she died on December 26, 2025, during treatment at a hospital in Ludhiana, Punjab.
The complainant explained that due to their daughter’s serious illness and state of shock, they could not immediately inform the police about the alleged harassment and assault.
The family had lodged a complaint on the Chief Minister’s Helpline on December 20, six days before the student’s death. The CM Helpline office forwarded the matter to Dharamshala Police Station for investigation.
Following this, police had visited the college and questioned the accused students and college administration. However, the formal FIR was registered only after the student’s death and the father’s detailed written complaint.
However, Dharamshala College Principal Rakesh Pathania has presented a completely different narrative. He claims that the deceased student was a first-year student in the college last year but failed her examinations. After failing, she was demanding admission to the second year. According to college rules, no failed student can be given admission to the next class. The principal claims the student was in depression due to failing her exams and not getting admission to the second year, not due to any harassment or ragging. The college administration states they received neither written nor oral complaint from the student’s family about any harassment or assault. College teachers had alleged that the student’s family threatened them, about which an oral complaint was made.
The starkly contrasting narratives from the victim’s family and the college administration raise several critical questions. An inquiry team constituted by Himachal Pradesh University reached the college on Monday to investigate the matter.
