NEW DELHI: The University Grants Commission’s fact-finding committee probing the death of a 19-year-old student at a government college in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, has cited “serious institutional failures”, including the absence of statutory bodies and lack of student support systems, according to its findings.
The panel found that the student was “disowned by stakeholders” and college principal Rakesh Patania learned about the incident through social media without any communication even after filing a police complaint, according to findings submitted to the UGC in the last week of March. HT has seen a copy of the committee’s report to the committee.
The UGC on January 3 constituted a five-member fact-finding committee to check the college’s compliance with its regulatory norms on student safety and examine the circumstances surrounding the death of the student on December 26. Based on a complaint filed by the victim’s father, three students of the college were booked for harassment while a teacher was booked for sexual harassment on January 1. On February 17, a Dharamshala court granted anticipatory bail to all three of them.
The UGC visited the college from January 1 to 8 and held detailed discussions with the college administration, teachers, students, the victim’s family and Himachal Pradesh police officials. It examined the implementation of user-generated content regulations on sexual harassment, equity and grievance redress.
The committee found that the victim was an undergraduate student who had been accepted into the class of 2024-25 and had completed one year of college. On July 29, 2025, she was declared failed in three subjects and the college administration advised her to “seek admission in the first year” even though she had begun attending second-year classes. College officials told the committee that according to university standards, she “cannot be accepted into her second year” unless she passes re-evaluation.
In October 2025, her father complained that she was being “bullied and bullied” and that she was “completely depressed”. However, renal response remained limited. By December 22, a complaint had reached the CM portal alleging harassment. The committee noted that the matter “was not followed up” by the police or the college. After her death on December 26, videos emerged in which she accused a teacher of “bad touching” and her colleagues of harassment. Despite this, the college initially maintained that she was “not a student”, even as her peers confirmed that she had studied there in 2024-2025.
The committee noted in its report that key bodies in the college such as the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) and anti-breach mechanisms were either “not constituted to standards” or “ineffective in the true sense”. She also noted that “no one contacted the student or her family” even after filing a complaint with the police. The committee found that the internal investigations were “inconclusive” and poorly documented, as the anti-harassment investigation lacked basic details and did not even examine the accused teacher. It was also found that the college “does not have a proper mechanism” to deal with sensitive cases, and that counseling services “are not working.”
The report also cited administrative lapses such as lack of CCTV coverage, lack of any proactive action following a police complaint, and delayed institutional response, with main knowledge of the incident through “social media.”
“Dharamshala Government College is affiliated to Himachal Pradesh University (HPU), Shimla, which will complete 100 years in 2026 and still lacks a mechanism to ensure safety of students in line with UGC norms and guidelines. We have recommended several measures for better academic environment,” a UGC committee member told HT.
The committee recommended urgent compliance with user-generated regulations, reconstitution of committees, strengthening student grievance systems, and prioritizing student mental health support. She also noted high dropout rates – around 40% annually – and called for improved academic and institutional support structures. The committee also called for proper record keeping of committee procedures, early identification and support of slow learners, and review of teacher-student ratios to ease academic pressure and improve oversight.
