The Tribune, October 2, 1999
HAU student shot dead
Tribune News Service
HISAR, Oct 1 — A student of Veterinary Sciences College at Haryana Agricultural University was shot dead allegedly by one of his classmates past midnight today. The deceased was identified as Manav Marwah, a third year student of B.V.Sc.
According to a complaint lodged by the Chief Security Officer of the university, one of the classmates of Manav, Ashok Mann, entered his room in the college hostel at around 1 a.m. in the night. The complaint was lodged on the basis of the statement made by Manav Marwah to other students in presence of the Chief Security Officer of the university.
Manav and Ashok talked for about half an hour. Subsequently, Manav told Ashok that he was feeling drowsy and wanted to go to sleep. Manav was quoted as having said that when Ashok started to leave the room and he (Manav) returned to his bed. Ashok fired at him from behind with a pistol. He later on managed to escape.
Manav rushed outside his room and woke up other students in the hostel. He was bleeding profusely and reportedly lost a lot of blood by the time he was referred to the university hospital. The doctors in the hospital reportedly expressed their helplessness and referred him to the civil hospital. From the civil hospital he was referred to a private hospital, which also refused to admit him. From there he was reportedly referred to another nursing home from where the doctors referred him to PGI, Rohtak. Manav reportedly breathed his last on way to the PGI as he had lost a lot of blood.
As the news of the murder spread in the campus, the students came out of their hostel rooms. They alleged "non-cooperation" by some of the officers in the university. The students forced the closure of all departments and the administrative block. They also locked out the offices of the Vice-Chancellor and the Director, Students Welfare. The angry students damaged the vehicle of the Chief Security Officer also.
The police has registered a case. However, the accused is yet to be traced. Preliminary investigations have revealed that the two students, Manav and Ashok, belonged to two different groups. The two groups have a history of mutual rivalry. A few months ago, another student was seriously injured after he was stabbed.
The general impression on the campus is that the university authorities have not taken any firm action in the past when such incidents took place. A senior professor in the university pointed out nobody had been punished for the stabbing incident that took place about eight months back. He said had the university authorities acted firmly at that time today's tragedy may have been averted. Moreover, he disclosed that there was no proper monitoring of the hostels and even outsiders were staying there.
Meanwhile, the university was closed today to mourn the death of Manav Marwah, a spokesman of the university said.
He disclosed that the university administration had constituted a committee under the chairmanship of Dr I.J. Singh, Director, Academy of Agricultural Research and Education management, to inquire about the incident. The decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of the Deans, Directors and various heads of departments held under the chairmanship of the Vice-Chancellor, Mr Vinay Kumar.
While condoling the death of Manav Marwah, the Vice-Chancellor assured the agitating students that anyone found guilty of negligence in providing medical aid to Manav would be punished.
The Haryana Agricultural University Teachers Association (HAUTA) while condemning the incident has demanded adequate security arrangements on the campus. The association expressed grave concern at the "deteriorating law and order situation on the campus" and stressed upon the university administration to take firm and effective measures to prevent such incidents in the future.
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