News
Hounded to death by campus tormentors
Dilhan Wijesinghe: A young life snuffed out
Twenty-three-year-old Dilhan Wijesinghe aspired to be a civil engineer but monstrous ragging at two higher educational institutes cut short his life, a coroner’s inquiry was told this week.
He took his life after reported severe ragging while studying for the National Diploma in Technology conducted by the Institute of Technology at Homagama under the University of Moratuwa.
Dilhan’s father, garments businessman Maithripala Wijesinghe, told the Inquirer into Sudden Deaths, S.M. Rajaratna Banda, that his son had become distraught due to ragging.
In a suicide note, Dilhan said ragging at the institute had been unbearable and had included “sleep deprivation”. He said others too suffered like he did.
His father said Dilhan had first entered Jaffna University’s Faculty of Physics after taking his Advanced Level exams at St Anne’s College in Kurunegala, where he had studied in the mathematics stream.
“My son was not happy at Jaffna University as he was ragged there as well. He dropped out of that university after six months and came back home,” Mr. Wijesinghe said.
Dilhan, in his note, said he had been ragged at Jaffna University but that the experience had not been as bad as at the Institute of Technology.
Mr. Wijesinghe told the inquiry that in January 2019 his son had entered the Institute of Technology to learn civil engineering.
“He used to complain to us that the seniors were troubling and torturing him,” Mr. Wijesinghe said.
Dilhan had shown signs of stress when he came home on February 15 after the institute had closed over a surge of ragging. Mr. Wijesinghe was so concerned that he took his son to a psychiatrist at the Kurunegala Hospital.
“We asked him to stop going to the institute. We did everything we could to reduce his stress by getting him medical treatment and taking him to religious activities,” Mr. Wijesinghe said.
Despite the family’s efforts, Dilhan succumbed to the mental agony and he committed suicide last Sunday (March 31), the day he should have travelled back to the institute to resume his studies.
Mr. Wijesinghe said he had heard a commotion after returning home from work in Galgamuwa that day and upon going to investigate he had found that his son had killed himself. The youth was rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead upon admission.
The Officer-in-Charge of the Kumbukgate Police Station, Inspector Jayantha Gamage, said police had held back on investigating the death as they lacked sufficient information. Police submitted evidence to the coroner’s inquiry.
Inspector Gamage said Dilhan’s letter indicated that he had been ragged by senior students as he had referred to them as “Sinno” but as he had not revealed any names the letter had been of no help to police.
He added that neither Dilhan nor his parents had made any complaint over ragging.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Moratuwa University, Professor P.K.S. Mahanama, said the institute was an autonomous body and so the institute’s director would be responsible for any inquiries and actions taken, and the university Senate would look into the report expected from the institute.
“Even though the institute comes under the preview of the university the autonomy of the institute would not be violated by the university,” Prof. Mahanama said.
The Director of the Institute of Technology, Mrs. M.M.P.D. Samarasekara, was unavailable for comment and messages left behind did not draw any response.
Anti-ragging campaigner Diswa Denetthi, a final-year student at the University of Colombo’s Institute of Indigenous Medicine in Rajagiriya, said students should not be scared of standing up against wrongdoing.
“Many students at our institute, including me, have resisted ragging and are nearing the completion of our degrees. If batchmates are united and oppose ragging no-one can cause harm to another; ragging can be stopped,” he said.
Additional reporting by Shiva Bandara