“Campus Security, An Overlooked Issue” Death of a 19-year-old female college student from Dharamshala

Under the “UGC guidelines on safety of students on and off campuses of higher educational institutions,” several guidelines are mentioned. These instructions need to be followed to ensure student safety. In India, we also celebrate Anti-Ragging Day and week on 12 August and 12- 18 August. But all those laws and regulations are more on paper than in reality.

The recent case of a college student from Dharamshala reveals serious shortcomings. It shows a clear lapse in the implementation of all these near-perfect laws. These laws were already in place. They should have protected her or any other student from the issues she faced in her day-to-day life. This happened at a place that is considered sacred by many. The case caught attention only after a video of her went viral. In the video, she accepted that she was being constantly bullied and harassed by a professor at her college. This video was recorded in a hospital in Pathankot, where she died on December 26, 2025, while undergoing treatment.

The Dharamshala police have filed a case against the individuals based on the complaint filed by her father. A competent authority will conduct an investigation. The complaint has been registered against the professor, Ashok Kumar. Three female students, Harshita, Akriti, and Kamolika, were also her classmates. They are charged under sections 75 (sexual harassment), 115(2) (causing hurt), and 3(5) (common intention) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. Additionally, section 3 of Himachal Pradesh Educational Institution Prohibition of Ragging Act, 2009, applies to them.

According to the complaint, this series of events has been going on since September 2025, when she was harassed by the three students during a ragging session. She was severely depressed and always remained in a constant horror of some kind of attack or harassment by her classmates and professor. She had been previously treated at several hospitals for both mental and physical issues.

Only with further developments in this case, various other involvements or reasons for actions can be uncovered. This case is a result of a serious ignorance on the side of authorities who are answerable if such incidents happen under their supervision. If things had been taken seriously from the start, this case would not have resulted in her death. We always presume that the campus is a safe place for students, but the unavailability of security and protection against issues of ragging and harassment can easily turn it into a dark place for those who are the future of this nation. These issues are not limited to a particular gender, religion, age, or class, so we all need to think beyond those borders.