Kathmandu, December 20

The cause that led Binisha Shah, a Nepali student pursuing dental education in Pioneer Dental College and Hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to commit suicide still remains a mystery.

Her brother has left for Dhaka to find what led her to commit suicide. “We can’t say what happened to her. We are waiting for our brother to return tomorrow,” said Sunil Sahu, Binisha’s cousin.

The local media in Dhaka quoted Abdul Gafurs, a college employee, as saying that Binisha had missed the deadline for paying tuition fee and the finance department of the college had interrogated her in the morning. Her classmates alleged that Binisha committed suicide due to excessive pressure from her teachers and college authorities.

The college authorities had demanded two lakh taka from each student before issuing them admit cards for second term examinations, her friends told local media. “I don’t believe she committed suicide just because the college demanded money.  She could have asked us to send money,” added Sahu.

Binisha committed suicide in her hostel room yesterday. Twenty-year-old Shah, who was a third-year student in the college, was found hanging from the ceiling fan.

Pressure of the studies, homesickness, lack of family support, loneliness, social and familial pressure to become a ‘doctor’ are some of the psychological factors for the students to commit suicide, as per Dr Ritesh Thapa, director and consultant neuropsychiatrist at Rhythm Neuropsychiatry Hospital and Research Centre, Ekantakuna.

“From what we read in the newspapers, we can say that it was an impulsive suicide where the patient takes the decision to end his/her life immediately,” added Dr Thapa.

“Sometimes the students who are ‘brilliant’ are unable to give their best and they commit suicide,” said Dr Dharma Kanta Baskota, chairman, Nepal Medical Council.