Bingiriya Student Suicide: National Outrage Over Harassment

By Jihan Hameed

Bingiriya Student Suicide Sparks National Outrage: How Many More Daughters Must Die?

Harassment by lecturers, state negligence, and a broken education system Sri Lanka must act now.

On 23 May 2025, a 23-year-old student from Teldeniya, Kandy, was found dead in her dormitory at the Wayamba National College of Education in Bingiriya. Officially, it was ruled a suicide. But those who knew her say she was a victim of ongoing harassment and mental abuse by lecturers people entrusted to educate and protect her.

This wasn’t just a personal tragedy. This was a national disgrace.

What Happened in Bingiriya?

The student, in her second year of training to become a teacher, reportedly faced persistent psychological harassment from academic staff. When she was found in her hostel room, it was already too late. A group of her fellow students held a silent protest on 23 May, demanding answers. But silence from officials has followed, not justice.

This is not the first time we’ve heard such a story and unless we change course, it won’t be the last.

Why This Isn’t an Isolated Case

Months ago, we called for reforms to the Penal Code to criminalize the psychological torment of students by those in power especially when it results in suicide. We demanded serious legal consequences for mental abuse within academic institutions. But our demands were ignored.

Sri Lanka’s education system has become a place where rank protects predators, complaints disappear into bureaucratic voids, and suffering is swept aside in the name of institutional reputation. The Ministry of Education and the University Grants Commission are both complicit in their silence and inaction.

Our daughters are being broken within government institutions. What does it say about a country where even a training college is unsafe?

What Sri Lanka Must Do Now

Enough speeches. Enough mourning. The following actions must be taken immediately:

• Amend the Penal Code to criminalize psychological harassment and institutional abuse that leads to suicide.
• Establish a Student Harassment and Mental Health Protection Division within the Ministry of Education and UGC with legal and disciplinary authority.
• Open 24/7 psychological counselling centres in every university and National College of Education across Sri Lanka.
• Launch mandatory audits and feedback systems to hold lecturers and wardens accountable for abusive conduct.
• Ensure independent oversight—no more internal “inquiries” that lead nowhere.

We Cannot Keep Burying Our Future

How many more daughters must die before Sri Lanka wakes up? How many more suicides will it take before we treat mental health like a matter of national urgency?

This student traveled across the island, from Teldeniya to Bingiriya, to study and serve this country. And instead, she died in silence while those responsible continue with their salaries, titles, and impunity.

I will not stop speaking until someone listens. Until this government acts. Until our institutions protect students not destroy them.

Because if we can’t protect our daughters, we don’t deserve to speak of values, nation, or progress.

Jihan Hameed
The Nationalist 🇱🇰