Student’s suicide stirs social media
Cousin claims engineering aspirant was bullied by college administration
An engineering student in Faisalabad committed suicide on Thursday, which triggered a conversation on social media about the education system in the country.
Saifullah Jamali, a student of chemical engineering at the NFC Institute of Engineering and Fertiliser Research (IEFR), shot himself in front of the university gates, as stated in a report published by Pakistan Today — a Pakistan-based English newspaper. The news was also shared by one of the Facebook pages associated with the university, NFC IE&FR Young Professionals Network — YPN.
They wrote: “Saifullah Jamali student of final year chemical department committed suicide on October 4, 2018. May his soul rest in peace. Please pray for this brother who is no more with us.”
This immediately led to a backlash against the institute, with the student’s cousin blaming the university for his death. On his Facebook page, Noor Ahmad Jamali wrote: “Saifullah Jamali my cousin/ brother/friend committed suicide due to a teacher, who often repeatedly disrespected him and repeatedly failed him. #WewantJustice It is my request to all students, civil society and human activists, please raise your voice against this act of university administration.”
An eyewitness account appeared on Facebook. Rizwan Shah, who, according to the report in Pakistan Today, is a lecturer at the university, wrote on his Facebook page: “I listened to the sound of a gunshot near NFC Faisalabad’s main gate. I go out of the gate, see this student ... He had a pistol in his hands.”
He goes on to state that he called for help on 1122, the helpline number for Punjab Emergency Services, who refused to assist. He was redirected to 15, the police helpline number, which was never answered.
He also posted an image of a suicide note left behind by Jamali, urging the authorities not to investigate his death.
Messages of support started pouring in for the student, with many social media users asking for justice.
Tweep @SohrabBaluch wrote: “Saifullah Jamali is a victim of corrupt education system ...”
Tweep @DrAbdulAziz32 wrote: “This is not suicide but murder. Must be investigated.”
Ghaffar Butt wrote on Facebook: “People who come from distant areas just to get a degree and suffer mental torture at your hands. This issue needs to be addressed and you people need to fix yourself otherwise people will do these things on daily basis.”