The body of a third-year English student of Jadavpur University (JU) in Kolkata was recovered from a pond on the campus on Thursday night, raising concerns about student safety and security. While the exact circumstances surrounding her death remain unclear, the body has been sent for a post-mortem examination to ascertain the cause of death, the police said.

The incident occurred during a Drama Club event featuring a performance by Gaur Das Baul and Group, near Gate No 4, which students and alumni attended. The student was found unconscious by students around 10.30 pm. Despite immediate attempts by fellow students to perform CPR and drain water from her lungs, she could not be revived, the police said. She was rushed to KPC Hospital, where she was declared dead on arrival.

The Jadavpur police have registered a case of unnatural death and started an investigation. While the student’s father went to the local police station on Friday morning, no complaint has been filed yet.

“No complaint has been received to date. Inquiry is going on,” Bidisha Kalita, Deputy Commissioner of Police, confirmed.

While a few students have claimed that the third-year student was sitting near the pond with her friends, it is unclear how her body was found inside it. There are three CCTV cameras in front of Gate No 4 of the university, but there is no camera facing the pond.

Meanwhile, JU Pro-VC Amitava Datta admitted that there was a shortage in the number of security guards deployed on campus. “We have such a big campus. Many security guards have retired in the last few years. As a result, there is a bit of a shortage now. We manage with limited security. There is definitely surveillance on the campus, but the patrolling team may not have been there at that time,” Datta told reporters on Friday morning.

“We informed the police about the incident at night. The student was taken to KPC in an ambulance, but she could not be saved. Her family came at night. We spoke to the family. We sympathise,” he added.

Referring to the musical event held on campus, Datta said that permission had been given to hold the event. Asked if permission had been granted to let the programme continue till night, Datta said, “No…However, sometimes it is necessary to run the programme beyond the scheduled time for various reasons. In this case, I have not yet received information regarding how long the programme lasted.”

“We will see to it that such incidents do not happen again in the future,” Datta added.

The incident has sparked a dispute between student bodies, with the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) criticising the university authorities for allowing the event to run late into the night, and SFI All India General Secretary and Jadavpur alumnus Srijan Bhattacharya dismissing the accusations as a “political scheming mentality”.

TMCP president Trinankur Bhattacharya alleged that alcohol consumption was prevalent on campus and demanded the immediate installation of CCTV cameras and the establishment of a permanent police outpost. He also called for the appointment of a permanent vice-chancellor nominated by the chief minister, stating that the current administrative vacuum is hampering university operations.

Bhattacharya questioned the effectiveness of installing CCTVs, citing a separate incident at a law college in South Kolkata where, despite having CCTV, a similar tragedy occurred.

This is the second student death on the Jadavpur University campus in recent years. In August 2023, a 17-year-old first-year Bengali student died after falling from the balcony of the university’s main hostel, an incident that had sparked protests and demands for stricter safety measures.

Following the latest incident, the father of the minor who died in 2023 alleged foul play and said the police should check the CCTV footage. “For the last two years, I have been suffering from this pain. Can the authorities return my son or these parents’ daughter?” he asked.