Panvel Taluka Police have booked the principal of a nursing college hostel for abetment to suicide and caste-based harassment after a 19-year-old student was found dead in his hostel room.

The deceased, Uday Motilal Aghale, a first-year B.Sc. Nursing student at a Nursing College in Poyanje, Panvel, allegedly took his own life on June 3 due to prolonged harassment by the college principal. A case has been registered under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and for abetment to suicide, based on a complaint filed by his mother.

Aghale, a native of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad), had secured admission at the college in December 2024 after scoring below the required CET cutoff. The college had approached him with the offer of admission and assured him of free hostel, mess, and uniforms due to his reserved category status. However, according to the complaint registered, none of these promises were fulfilled, and Aghale was allegedly pressured to pay Rs 5 lakh.

When he questioned the demand, the lady principal reportedly began targeting him with caste-based insults and public humiliation. Aghale frequently told his parents about the mental distress he was facing and had expressed his desire to leave the institution. Despite this, his parents encouraged him to focus on his studies.

On the night of June 3, Aghale made a final phone call to his mother around 1:30 a.m., asking about his family’s well-being before saying he could no longer tolerate the harassment. He ended the call and was later found hanging in his hostel room by a friend, Narsingh Giri, who was alerted by Aghale mother when she couldn’t reach him.

Aghale was rushed to a hospital, but was declared dead on arrival.

“As per the allegations, we have filed the case against the Principal and the further investigations are on,” said a police officer from Panvel Taluka police station.