The family of Garima Agarwal, a student of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, who attempted suicide claiming that her PhD thesis had been plagiarised, has demanded justice for her.
After Garima (29) attempted suicide at her Delhi home on December 14, a first information report (FIR) was registered under section 406 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code at the Shahdara police station in the national capital on December 19.
Speaking at a Pune press conference organised by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Garima’s sister Shilpi Goel demanded action against the faculty and other authorities of the premier institute for allegedly harassing her sister.
As per the FIR, Garima got admission for a PhD in mathematics in 2016 by scoring the 38th rank in the IIT Jam examination. Garima, who hails from Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura district, came to live with her sister in Shahdara after the Covid outbreak closed educational institutions in 2020.
In September 2020, IISER faculty member Anindya Goswami became Garima’s PhD supervisor. The FIR mentions that another student, Shristi Gupta, was doing her M Sc thesis under Goswami’s supervision and that she attended online meetings with Garima and the supervisor. Garima alleged that Gupta had plagiarised her work for her MSc thesis. Gupta allegedly claimed it was her work and, as per the FIR, Goswami too certified it as having been done under her supervision.
Garima stated that though she was shocked to know about this, she kept quiet fearing retaliation from the supervisor. Meanwhile, Gupta got her MSc degree and joined an MBA course in Delhi University.
Garima completed her PhD work, and as she was about to publish it as a paper in a journal in July 2022, she got to know that Goswami had put Gupta’s name as “the author” on it, according to the FIR.
When confronted, Goswami allegedly told Garima that she had “promised to launch” Gupta in academia. The supervisor also allegedly threatened to damage Garima’s career if she filed any complaint, according to the FIR.
On July 25, 2022, Goel complained to the IISER director through email. The institute conducted an inquiry and passed an order on November 22. “The IISER found Goswami guilty and passed an order that he should not supervise any new student for the next one year. But in the same order, I was given a direction to work with Goswami….due to it, I went under depression,” Garima stated in the FIR. She has sought action against Goswami, Gupta and the IISER director.
“My sister was deeply disturbed because of plagiarism. She was not getting justice. So in her complaints to IISER by email, she had stated that she lost the desire to live….Even after the inquiry, Garima was asked to work with the same supervisor who was found guilty. So she was so depressed that she attempted suicide at our Delhi residence…. The FIR has been lodged and we demand action against IISER officials responsible for my sister’s condition. She was in the ICU. Her condition is not stable yet,” Goel said.
Sub-inspector Arjun Singh of the Shahdara police station said, “We have not contacted IISER officials yet. The investigation is at an initial stage.”
An IISER official said the director was not available for comment, and directed The Indian Express to the institute’s “media coordinator”, who could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.
“We have submitted letters to the Union education minister, the Maharashtra chief minister, Pune city police and other authorities seeking action against IISER authorities,” said Shubhshankar Bachal, president of the ABVP’s city unit.
