Days after a third-year student of five-year integrated law programme at Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) allegedly died by suicide at his hostel room on campus, over 500 students from the varsity held a mass protest against the ‘administrative failure’ even as the hostel warden and the nurse were suspended on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the GNLU administration in writing “acknowledged certain shortcomings that has been brought to our knowledge with respect to the tragic incident that occurred on the night of 17-18 March 2025”.
21-year-old Vansh Gaint, a resident of Patiala, was discovered in a precarious condition in his hostel room between 11.35 and 11.45 pm Monday night. The varsity has agreed to meet all the demands of the students within a stipulated time frame.
Based on the demands of the protesting student, a probe panel has also been set up against warden Yogesh Prajapati and nurse Avani on their response and role into the incident, GNLU Registrar Nitin Malik confirmed to The Indian Express.
On Thursday, chaos and sloganeering was witnessed on the GNLU campus in Gandhinagar around 11 am when over 500 students gathered at the common area in protest against the incident. Meanwhile, the authorities claimed that this was the first such mass protest by students on the campus in over 20 years.
After heated discussions between students, GNLU director Prof S Shanthakumar, Registrar Nitin Malik and faculty members that continued for over an hour, the administration agreed to the students’ demands and mailed the same to them around 3 pm.
As a University, we acknowledge certain shortcomings that has been brought to our knowledge with respect to the tragic incident that occurred on the night of 17-18 March 2025. With respect to the concerns raised by the students in the email, we would like to state as follows – an ambulance shall be stationed outside both the boys’ and girls’ hostels available 24/7, emergency phone numbers will be notified for the facilities listed in your email, all essential equipment shall be made available and accessible in both boys and girls hostels,” stated the email.
“Additional proper training for handling such a kind of situation shall be provided by an expert and professional team in the university, professional doctors shall be made available and accessible for all students and staff 24/7, all required door opening equipment shall be made available in both the hostels and necessary training will be provided,” said the mail.
“As declared, Mr. Yogesh, Hostel warden and Ms. Avani, Nurse they were on duty that night are suspended with immediate effect, pending enquiry and the status and findings of the report will be communicated, counsellors will be made available as requested,” said the email.
“With respect to the constitution of ‘student body’, necessary steps will be initiated’, the email stated.
When pressed for a timeline of all these assurances by students, the authorities sent a second mail stating, “Timeline for the proposal of the constitution of the student body… necessary steps are being taken immediately to place it before the Executive Council and we will complete and inform accordingly by April 30.”
On the students’ demand for a ‘declaration that the student body will be governed by the rules and regulations drafted by the democratically elected student body’ the authorities stated that ‘rules and regulations drafted by the democratically elected student body will be placed before the Executive Council for necessary approvals’.
Students during their protest told the varsity members, ‘we believe that this tragedy was not an inevitable act of fate but rather a preventable disaster, exacerbated by delays in emergency response, lack of medical infrastructure, and a failure of administrative intervention at GNLU; and to substantiate the same, we have produced a minute-to-minute account of events that unfolded on 17/03/2025, and the early hours of 18/03/2025″.
We strongly believe that, if there had been trained medical personnel, an ambulance, wardens who could act without hesitation, and overall diligent efforts, present that day, this tragedy could have been averted. More than 1000 students reside on this campus, not merely as scholars but as individuals who live their daily lives here. The medical inadequacies and administrative lapses we have highlighted are not isolated; they are daily struggles that students have repeatedly reported to wardens, professors, and authorities. Yet, it took a tragedy of this magnitude for these concerns to even be noticed,” the students highlighted.
“The loss of our batchmate has left an irreplaceable void in our hearts, and the pain of knowing that this tragedy could have been prevented only deepens our grief, and this is not just about policy, but about human lives,” one of the protesting students told The Indian Express.
“We all fall sick every now and then, and while most days it may just be a passing discomfort, there is always the lingering thought, what if it were something more serious? What if a real emergency struck again? In moments of crisis, we need to know that the place we call home is prepared, and that the institution we trust is equipped to act swiftly and effectively, ensuring that an emergency doesn’t escalate into a tragedy,” said the student.
“The recent, unfortunate incident has made us believe that in emergencies, we cannot rely on our administration. We hope that the GNLU admin will take concrete action to restore our trust and ensure this never happens again,” said the student.