Student commits suicide for Telangana, Osmania University tense

HYDERABAD - Osmania University here was tense Saturday as yet another student committed suicide in the campus, demanding the formation of separate Telangana state.

The charred body of Ishan Reddy, an engineering student, was found near the university library. In his hand-written suicide note found near the body, the student said he was fulfilling his “wish” as all 12 legislators, who had resigned for the cause of Telangana, were re-elected.

“I wished before Maisamma (deity) that I will sacrifice my life if D. Srinivas and other Congress candidates are defeated in the elections and now that they are defeated I am fulfilling my wish,” he said.

Andhra Pradesh state Congress chief D. Srinivas and other Congress candidates were defeated in the by-elections in the region.

Ishan congratulated the people of Telangana and Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao for ensuring the re-election of 12 legislators.

Ishan, who hailed from Medak district, also wanted that Congress and TDP leaders like D. Srinivas, Jana Reddy, Damodar Reddy, Sridhar Babu, K. Venkat Reddy, Kadiam Srihari, E. Dayakar Rao and N. Janardhan Reddy be declared “traitors” of Telangana and hanged publicly.

Tension prevailed on the campus as the students were resisting police attempts to shift the body to the mortuary. Ishan Reddy, in his suicide note, expressed his wish that autopsy should not be conducted on his body. He also wanted his body to be taken in a procession from the university to Telangana martyrs’ memorial near the assembly.

Ishan Reddy completed his B Tech from St. Ann’s Institute of Technology and was undergoing coaching for GRE TOEFL exams.

He is the fourth student to commit suicide on the Osmania University campus this year. In March, Sai Kumar, a second year B Tech student of Osmania University, had ended his life by hanging in his hostel room as he was upset over the delay in formation of a separate state.

On Feb 20, a Class 12 student had immolated himself at the main entrance of Osmania University in full public view during a protest by university students.

In January, a MCA student had self-immolated on the campus.

Parties fighting for a separate Telangana claim that over 300 students and youth have committed suicide in the region since protests began in November last year.