NLU Delhi: Another Student Death and an Explosive Email Trail

NLU Delhi: Three Students Deaths in Three Months

On September 4, tragedy struck the National Law University Delhi when Amrutavarshiny Senthil Kumar, a third-year BA LLB Honours student, was found dead in her hostel room. While reporting on Amrutavarshiny's case, we spoke to many insiders at NLUD who said her case highlights the systemic issues plaguing institutions like the National Law University, including entrenched caste-based discrimination, sexual harassment, and mental health struggles among students. Less than a month after Amrutavarshiny's untimely death, a first-year student of NLU Delhi was found dead, further intensifying concerns.

The death of first-year student Shah Khushil Vishal on September 22 reverberated through the halls of NLU Delhi, marking the third student death in just three months. In response, the university issued a condolence message and designated September 23 a non-teaching day. Yet, many students and alumni have expressed frustration, emphasising the urgent need for NLU Delhi to implement comprehensive support systems for its students and address all concerns raised by students. They assert that the administration must take accountability, thoroughly investigate each incident, and ensure that adequate resources are available to prevent such tragedies in the future.

In the case of Khushil’s death, The Probe has obtained a series of unsettling emails that reveal a troubling narrative. Out of respect for the students involved and their emotional states while they replied to the emails, we have chosen not to disclose all emails and complete details of these communications. Our commitment lies with the students; we refuse to allow them to shoulder blame for the institution’s failures, if any. Instead, we call on NLU Delhi to transparently communicate the actions it plans to take in response to the myriad concern

NLU Delhi: Three Students Deaths in Three Months

On September 4, tragedy struck the National Law University Delhi when Amrutavarshiny Senthil Kumar, a third-year BA LLB Honours student, was found dead in her hostel room. While reporting on Amrutavarshiny's case, we spoke to many insiders at NLUD who said her case highlights the systemic issues plaguing institutions like the National Law University, including entrenched caste-based discrimination, sexual harassment, and mental health struggles among students. Less than a month after Amrutavarshiny's untimely death, a first-year student of NLU Delhi was found dead, further intensifying concerns.

The death of first-year student Shah Khushil Vishal on September 22 reverberated through the halls of NLU Delhi, marking the third student death in just three months. In response, the university issued a condolence message and designated September 23 a non-teaching day. Yet, many students and alumni have expressed frustration, emphasising the urgent need for NLU Delhi to implement comprehensive support systems for its students and address all concerns raised by students. They assert that the administration must take accountability, thoroughly investigate each incident, and ensure that adequate resources are available to prevent such tragedies in the future.

In the case of Khushil’s death, The Probe has obtained a series of unsettling emails that reveal a troubling narrative. Out of respect for the students involved and their emotional states while they replied to the emails, we have chosen not to disclose all emails and complete details of these communications. Our commitment lies with the students; we refuse to allow them to shoulder blame for the institution’s failures, if any. Instead, we call on NLU Delhi to transparently communicate the actions it plans to take in response to the myriad concerns raised by its student body and to put this out in the public domain.

Email Trail: A Month Before the Incident

On August 4, 2024, Khushil reached out to his peers with a poignant email addressed to students from all batches at NLUD. In his message to the BA LLB classes of 2020 through 2024, Khushil stated: 

The email Khushil sent to all BA LLB students at NLUD clearly indicated his desire for his peers to understand his state of mind. It raises critical questions: Was this a desperate call for help, or something more complex that remains hidden? While we won't disclose the full email trail, it suggests that both the faculty and the administration, including the Vice Chancellor and the Registrar, were aware of the ongoing issues and communications surrounding Khushil.

On the day Khushil sent the email, many fellow students rallied around him, offering support and trying to lift his spirits. This brings to the forefront an urgent inquiry: What actions did the university administration take upon receiving Khushil’s heartfelt message? We have reached out to Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. G.S. Bajpai and Registrar Prof. Dr. Ruhi Paul.  This story will be updated upon their replies.

However, the concern extends far beyond Khushil’s email or his tragic death. With three student fatalities in three months, it is overly simplistic to attribute these tragedies solely to mental health struggles or academic pressure. These incidents should serve as a clarion call for the university to investigate and address a host of underlying issues affecting the students.

Moreover, there exists a faction within the college that appears to undermine the voices of affected students, preoccupied instead with protecting their own interests. This group seems more concerned with discovering how The Probe accesses internal emails than confronting the real problems at hand. Yet, amidst this environment, we have received numerous messages and emails from students who are struggling and who demand systemic and institutional changes.

One such message encapsulates the urgent need for reform. To protect the sender’s identity, we will only publish parts of the email which outlines critical issues the university must address: 

“I have been following your story on the suicide case of student at NLUD and you have done an amazing work at that. I am a student there and want to share what is happening in the campus now because it is disheartening to say the least. 

We are moving forward as if nothing happened, with the university even giving permission to go on sports fests and having freshers party in the campus. PFA the proofs for same (is attached). It is disheartening for a lot of students to see these events as it just shows that we have moved on without addressing any of the institutional issues… 

In addition to this the university went on to post lines from suicide note of Amruta just to protect its image and show how they were not responsible for same, which was met with a very strong reaction from the student body.” 

Despite the mounting toll of student deaths on campus, many voices within the NLU Delhi community express frustration that institutional issues remain unaddressed by the college management. This raises a critical question: What are these pressing institutional problems?

In response to Khushil's email, one student articulated their distress over the ongoing tragedies, referencing another recent death at the college. The student’s message underscores the urgency of addressing these systemic failures, highlighting a growing sense of stress among peers. Read below: 

“You cannot brush aside all deaths by attributing them solely to academic pressure. When the university takes this stance, it is merely evading its own responsibility,” says Sushant Singh, a Governing Board Member of the Alumni Association of NLU Delhi. His words reflect a growing sentiment of frustration within the student and alumni community as they grapple with a series of tragic deaths on campus.

Singh adds: “The institution should focus on understanding the reasons behind these tragedies instead of convincing themselves that institutional issues are not to blame. They shouldn’t rush to label an incident as suicide on the very day it occurs. How can you be sure it was a suicide? We should wait for the police to complete their investigation and present the findings before the court. The institution must hold itself accountable”.

An ex-student, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed deep concern over what they described as “structural and institutional failures at the highest levels” within NLU Delhi. “There’s patriarchy, misogyny, sexual violence, caste violence—so much discrimination happening,” the former student stated. 

Adding to the concerns is the university’s rising fees, which has made education increasingly commercialised and inaccessible to many. “The fee hike is just another layer of inequality. The scientific temperament, the rational thinking, and the critical thought process of the students—elements that should be nurtured—have been taken away by the administration."

The former student also touched upon the lack of democratic spaces and the stifling of critical thinking, noting a growing polarisation within the university. “You have one group of students from oppressed backgrounds, and then you have upper-caste, upper-class students coming from highly influential families. In such a divided environment, the administration must step in and establish institutional mechanisms to safeguard equality and foster inclusivity,” they said.

NLU Delhi operates under the broader supervision of the judiciary, with its Visitor being a renowned judge of the Supreme Court of India and its Chancellor the sitting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. Given the institution's direct ties to the judicial system, the recent spate of student deaths highlights the need for judicial intervention.

The alarming pattern of student tragedies reveals the urgency for the judiciary to step in, demand accountability from the administration, and ensure that robust mechanisms are put in place to support students. More than just addressing mental health and academic pressure, the intervention should focus on cultivating an inclusive environment where discrimination in all forms—whether based on caste, gender, or economic background—is actively combated.

We have reached out to the top authorities at NLU Delhi for their official response and further details regarding these ongoing concerns. This story will be updated as soon as we hear from them.