Dental dept of Sharda University has culture of personal insults: Batchmates after BDS students kills self

Time of India

3 days ago

Noida: Personal insults are common here, several of Jyoti Jhangra's batchmates at Sharda University TOI spoke to said on Saturday as the school of dental sciences reeled under the shock of a student dying by suicide.
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The students said their department had a "culture of toxicity", primarily perpetrated by the two faculty members, who Jyoti had named in her final note, and abetted by others not intervening.
A classmate of Jyoti in the second year of the bachelor of dental science course said the two professors were in the habit of making demeaning comments for the smallest of mistakes. "One day, I made a few minor errors in my project, and the professor said to me, 'tumse nahi ho payega, tum ghar ja ke roti banao (This is not for you. Go home and make chapatis)'. It was humiliating," she said, adding one of the professors, while scolding another student, had fumed: "Chappal se marungi (will beat you up with a sandal)"
"Even during vivas, we are very scared about what remark the professors will make if the answers are wrong.
The department is very toxic," she said.
Constant fear of getting humiliated, said another student, leads to many of them often skipping their visits home, lest something holds them up and attendance is affected even by a day. "My parents are in Delhi. But I don't go for fear of getting scolded," she said.
"Making personal comments and humiliation has been a culture in the dental wing for a while," a third student in the same class as Jyoti said on Saturday.
"As a student, I understand the medical field is challenging and requires precision. However, torturing students mentally, and harassing them in the name of being strict is uncalled for. This affects our mental health and there is no one who we can speak to about these issues," said the student.
Last Monday, Jyoti's father was called to the university. The faculty members her father spoke to were cordial, Jyoti told a classmate.
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But the same day, one of the two faculty members who have now been arrested, allegedly told Jyoti she would fail in the exam, a classmate said. "They repeatedly scolded her and refused to sign her denture project submissions. She told us they had accused her of forging a signature and called her father on Monday," the classmate added.
"Due to the toxic environment here, Jyoti was not the only student feeling tormented. It is heartbreaking that she was left to fight it alone," said the second-year BDS student.
Another common allegation from dental science students was that some professors would tear or throw away submissions they were unhappy with in front of the whole class. "Once, I submitted a project and the professor asked me to make changes without even looking at it. The next day, I submitted the project without any modifications, and it was approved. It felt like she rejected it the first time just to harass me," a student who is now interning said.
University officials said there is an internal complaint committee in place for students and anyone who feels wronged can approach it. TOI could not ascertain if complaints had been filed against any of the professors in the dental sciences department.
"The university takes care of the mental health of students, and there is an internal committee for students. The committee functions actively. A final report based on the investigation will further clear the matter," said Dr Ajit Kumar, director of Sharda University.