A second-year dental student at Sharda University in Uttar Pradesh’s Greater Noida allegedly died by suicide in her hostel room on Friday after being subjected to “mental duress” from two of her professors, The Hindu reported.

A note purportedly recovered from the 21-year-old student’s room named six persons and stated that she had been humiliated and mentally harassed, The Indian Express reported.

Two of the professors named in the note, Shairy Vashisht and Mahinder Singh Chauhan, were arrested, The Times of India reported. Both faculty members have been suspended, Public Relations Officer of Sharda University Ajit Kumar told The Indian Express.

“Five persons have been named in the FIR [first information report],” Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Sudhir Kumar was quoted as saying by The Hindu. “Two persons have been taken into custody for questioning.”

The FIR was registered at Greater Noida’s Knowledge Park police station based on a complaint by the woman’s father.

The student’s father alleged that university officials took her body down from the noose and shifted it to Sharda Hospital without informing the police or the family, The Indian Express reported.

Sudhir Kumar told the newspaper that the university administration informed the police about the incident around 9.30 pm on Friday.

The student’s father also claimed that his daughter had been “instigated to die by suicide” and “tortured”. One of the accused had allegedly told her in class, “Since you make too many complaints, you will be punished”, he told the police.

He also alleged that the two professors, along with another, threatened her again on Thursday by not approving her work and not allowing her to appear for an exam.

An FIR has been registered under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to abetment of suicide, disappearance of evidence, insult to the modesty of a woman, breach of peace and criminal intimidation.

Meanwhile, Sharda University administration said that a high-level committee had been formed to investigate the matter.

“We have sympathy for the girl’s family and we will ensure that whoever is at fault is strictly punished,” The Indian Express quoted Ajit Kumar as saying.

Opposition urges Centre to take cognisance of case

Opposition leaders have condemned the incident and urged the Union government to take cognisance of it.

In a post on X, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also referred to the recent case in Odisha’s Balasore, where an undergraduate student set herself on fire on July 12 after her complaint of sexual harassment by a faculty member allegedly went unaddressed. She died of her injuries two days later

“Now a similar tragic incident has come to light at Sharda University in Greater Noida,” the Congress leader said. “A female student took her own life, alleging harassment by teachers.”

Vadra added: “Are our educational institutions not safe for our children?”

She urged the Union government to take cognisance of these cases, ensure strict action and take concrete steps to prevent such incidents from recurring on any campus.

The Trinamool Congress also condemned the incident.

“These abusers, cloaked in academic authority and shielded by political muscle, prey on vulnerable students,” it said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s “moral posturing collapses under the weight of their own failures, the party added.