Bengaluru: A 23-year-old postgraduate student, HM Manasa, who was injured after an auto rickshaw rammed into her on Bangalore University campus on July 30, died Wednesday.The first-year MA student of visual arts, Manasa lived in the university hostel, said her relative Prajwal NC, who lodged a complaint at Jnanabharati traffic police station. Manasa belonged to Nanjanagud in Mysuru district. “Around 2.15pm on July 30, Manasa with other classmates was crossing the road outside her visual arts department. A rashly driven auto rickshaw heading in the direction of Nagarabhavi Circle knocked her down. With serious injuries, Manasa was shifted to a private hospital in Nagarabhavi,” Prajwal stated in his complaint.The accused auto driver, Syed Fayaz, was arrested, and police seized his vehicle.Students protest on campusIn the wake of the tragedy, BU students protested, demanding control of public vehicle traffic on Jnanabharathi campus. The students sat in the middle of the road for an hour, disrupting traffic, before police removed them.There are about 47 departments, more than 6,000 students and more than 1,000 teaching and non-teaching staff working on the 1,000-acre campus. The campus houses the main road that connects Mysuru Road to Ullal main road and handles thousands of vehicles every day.“The Gandhi Marg road from the administrative office to Nagarabhavi Circle is narrow. Students face difficulty in crossing the road due to heavy traffic. It is sometimes scary,” said a student. “Sometimes, we feel unsafe in hostels during night hours as private vehicles keep moving on the road throughout,” said a hostelite.“We also need the university to help Manasa’s family financially. There should be justice for Manasa,” said another student.All India Democratic Students organisation has asked university authority to ban heavy/unregulated vehicular traffic in academic zones and enforce strict speed limits inside the campus. It has also asked the varsity to form a safety monitoring committee with student representation to audit campus security. “This is not an isolated tragedy. Despite repeated incidents, the administration has failed to secure the campus for its students,” it said.In 2022, Shilpashree, 21, a postgraduate student, was run over by a BMTC bus on the campus. She succumbed to injuries after battling for life for 11 days. At the time, students demanded strict control be imposed on public vehicle traffic on the university campus. BU had then written to state govt, requesting them to stop public traffic within the campus.“The death of BU student is deeply heartbreaking. In response to the students’ demand, the university will take up the matter with govt and also discuss it in the syndicate meeting to ensure public vehicle movement on Gandhi Marg Road is restricted at the earliest. The university will provide financial assistance to the family of the student. Further, with immediate effect, health insurance will be extended to all students,” said C Shivaraju, vice-chancellor, Bangalore University.
