Weeks after losing job, DU ad hoc teacher found dead

■ Former colleagues, students protest ■ No suicide note found

Dejected after being removed from his post at the Hindu College, a 33year-old Delhi University ad-hoc lecturer of philosophy was found dead at his house in Outer Delhi’s Rani Bagh area.

Meanwhile, the All India Students’ Association (AISA) held a protest at the Hindu College demanding accountability from the administration.

Students and AISA activists gathered outside the college and raised slogans against the apathy of the administration.

The students were also joined by professors Abha Dev Habib and Nandita Narain, who raised solidarity to the protest and urged the student-teacher community to unite and fight against the tide of displacements in the university.

According to the police, Samarveer, originally from Molki village in

◗ THE POLICE said that according to the deceased’s cousin, Samarveer was depressed after he got displaced in an interview held in February in the college for the permanent post

Rajasthan’s Baran district, was found hanging from a ceiling fan in a room he shared with his cousin who had gone to duty at the time of the incident.

No suicide note has been found.

The police said that according to the deceased’s cousin, Samarveer was depressed after he got displaced in an interview held in February in the college for the permanent post.

Reportedly, principal Anju Srivastava did not respond to calls and texts requesting her statement.

The police said it received a call on Wednesday regarding a man hanging himself to death at an apartment in Rani Bagh area.

When a police team reached there, the room was found to be locked from inside. A mobile crime team of the Outer district was called and the door was forcibly opened, said DCP (Outer) Harendra Singh.

The man was found hanging from the ceiling fan using a bedsheet, the DCP said, adding that he was shifted to a nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead.

The DCP said no foul play was suspected.

“Hundreds of teachers, who have been teaching for more than 10 years, have been displaced. Samarveer’s colleague mentioned that he was depressed after he got displaced in February. His mother, who is in Rajasthan, lost sight in one of her eyes owing to shock. This disturbed him further,” said Nandita Narain, an associate professor at St Stephen’s College and ex-DUTA president.

“I met him on February 11 when I heard about the displacement. The displacement of several teachers across the university is an ongoing human and academic tragedy,” said Ms Narain.

The Aam Aadmi Party’s teachers’ wing, Academic for Action and Development Delhi Teachers’ Association (AADTA), demanded immediate absorption of all ad-hoc teachers.

The university also paid its heartfelt condolences on the untimely demise of the professor.

“No words can ease the pain that is being felt by all, including us in the university fraternity. Our thoughts are with the departed soul and his family and we pray for strength and peace to them during this time of mourning,” the university said.