A 26-year-old student at a medical college in Dehradun was found dead in her car in the early hours of Wednesday, allegedly with a cannula inserted in her left arm attached to a bottle, police said.
The incident took place following a conversation the woman had with her father after midnight on Wednesday. The woman recounted to her father the alleged harassment meted out by the head of the department (HOD) at the college.
An FIR has been filed based on the complaint by her father against the HOD on charges of abetment to suicide under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS). In the complaint, he said his daughter had been studying at the college since September 2023.
She was staying in Dehradun with her mother. Around 9 pm Tuesday, his daughter spoke to him for an hour in detail about the threats by the HOD, he alleged.
“She appeared to be very depressed. At 11.15 pm, my wife received a message from my daughter stating that she would return home by 12.30 am,” he said.
After the woman stopped answering calls, her father left for Dehradun and, along with his wife, went to the road near a local hospital and found her locked car parked on the roadside.
“My daughter was sitting in the driver’s seat. There was a cannula inserted in her left arm, with a small bottle attached, and some injections were scattered on the seat. I did not have the spare key, so I broke the rear left window with a stone, opened the car, and found that my daughter was not responding at all,” he said.
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They took the woman to the emergency ward, where the doctors examined her and declared her dead, he said.
His complaint states that the woman was “driven to commit suicide due to the mental, financial, and academic harassment by the HOD”.
He said in the complaint that the HOD took charge in December 2025, after which the woman started relaying complaints of harassment.
“From the very first day, she (the HOD) began intimidating, threatening, and mentally harassing my daughter. She instructed my daughter not to maintain any kind of communication with (the former HOD)… Out of spite, the HOD awarded her zero marks,” he alleged.
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He claimed he met the HOD “3-4 times” and that she “demanded money from me”. He also claimed that she threatened to fail his daughter in the exams.
Praveen Pundir, the investigating officer in the case, said a probe is underway. “We have recorded statements of the family and a few staff at the medical college. We are looking into her academic records and questioning the staff. Notice has been issued to officials to join us for further questioning,” he added. The postmortem report is awaited.
A spokesperson of the college refused to comment on the matter.
In a letter to the district SSP, the principal of the medical college claimed that Tanvi had been undergoing “psychiatric treatment for a long time”.
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“During the course of her postgraduate studies, she had expressed suicidal thoughts. Two years ago, Tanvi had attempted suicide (documents enclosed), following which she was admitted to the ICU. Thereafter, on the night of December 31, 2025, she again attempted suicide (call recording with the HOD and action taken are attached),” the letter said.
The letter also said that “certain individuals are attempting to take undue advantage of the situation by speaking of filing complaints against the hospital doctors with the intent of tarnishing the institution’s reputation, which is not justified”. This may adversely affect the morale of doctors, the letter further said.
