Why choose a system that kills dreams?

Dwaipayan Ghosh,TNN | May 31, 2014, KOLKATA: "Our daughter killed herself. Didn't they learn anything from that," ask Tapas and Seema Sen. By 'they', the parents mean the Bengal government.

And what they want is an online college admission system that would save tens of thousands of students the kind of harassment that drove their only daughter Monideepa to suicide.

The Beliaghata couple say they will never forgive education minister Partha Chatterjee for reneging on the government's promise of a centralized online admission system. "We would like to meet the education minister and tell him about our predicament. The online system would have made admissions more transparent. We don't want anyone to fall victim to a non-transparent system," said Tapas Sen.

The manual system of admission that runs in most colleges in Bengal is vulnerable to manipulation and malpractice, he says, after getting a close-up view of the "harassment" his daughter went through trying to get a seat in Vidyasagar College.

The 17-year-old had 67% marks in aggregate and scored 84 in geography. She got a seat in Surendranath College and Victoria College but set her eyes on Vidyasagar College because it has the best faculty in geography.

She waited in vain for Vidyasagar College for three months - from July to October 2013. The uncertainty drove her to desperation (in the online system, the admission process would be over in three weeks).

She approached Trinamool Chhatra Parishad for help - it's common knowledge in Bengal that unions have a say in admission. Monideepa didn't have the marks to get into Vidyasagar but the prevalent system and loopholes gave her the belief that she could, say her parents.

"My daughter began visiting Vidyasagar College after certain TMCP leaders, who controlled the union, promised her a seat. They took money from her but went back on their word. One of them even demanded a further Rs 800 for the 'union activities' and misbehaved with her when she refused to pay up," Tapas alleged.

The girl's mother said: "She wanted to take admission in a pass course and try to get into the honours course. Two of her friends helped her contact a student leader who is also an elected representative of the college."

The leader allegedly took money from her three times. Monideepa and her mother were even asked to come to the college in October to "collect her honours ID card". "She wanted her father to accompany her but the union leader asked her to come alone to fill up some forms. A few minutes later, when she returned, she looked shocked and said that the leader misbehaved with her and told her to 'go hang herself'. A few hours later she did exactly that," said Seema.

The teenager killed herself at 8.30pm on October 10 - Panchami - the day Monideepa had planned to start pandal hopping for Durga Puja. "It's distressing that the new education minister didn't even consider my daughter's death while reversing a very progressive decision. Online admission would have revolutionized education in Bengal," said Tapas.

On Friday, he did not have the heart to open his shop. "I vividly remember the last HS result day. My daughter looked so happy. I never imagined I would never get to see her smile again," he said.

What worsens the hurt is that no one has been arrested for Monideepa's suicide.

The police say they followed protocol. DC-eastern suburban division Dhrubajyoti Dey said a case had been initiated against three of the accused under IPC Sections 306 (abetting suicide) and 120B (criminal conspiracy).

But on Friday, no one at Beliaghata police station could "remember either the incident or the probe." "You must accept that it is not possible to remember all cases," a senior officer argued.

Tapas recalls how every visit to the police station was met with disapproval. "They kept saying they can do little until all forensic reports reach them. I wonder what reports they keep mentioning and how long it takes. Neither have police arrested anyone, nor have they filed a chargesheet though seven months have passed. The administration had promised so many things after my daughter's death, not one of them cared to come back and help us," said Tapas.