Excess fee: Barred from exam, girl attempts suicide

A 19-year-old third-year BA Economics student of Guru Nanak College, a government-aided college in Velachery, attempted suicide after she was barred from writing an exam on Monday for refusing to pay the semester fee, which was more than what was fixed by the government.

- SUBASHINI VIJAYAKUMAR

The student had also filed a case against the college, which is pending in the Madras HC. Despite the intervention of the Directorate of Collegiate Education (DCE), the college refused to issue her hall ticket, said her mother D Lakshmi. After enrollment, she had paid ₹28,000 as fee in the first year and ₹27,000 in the second year. The college demanded ₹30,000 in the third year. However, the government-stipulated fee is around ₹800 for the first year and ₹300 each for the subsequent years, as per a communique from the college to the DCE in 2018.