A BA second-year student at DAV PG Degree College in Budhana, Muzaffarnagar, set himself on fire inside a classroom on Saturday morning, allegedly after being humiliated by the college principal over unpaid fees. The student, in his early 20s, suffered over 70% burns and is currently being treated at a hospital in Delhi after being moved from Meerut due to his critical condition.
According to reports, the student had been repeatedly harassed because he was unable to clear ₹7,000 in pending fees, even after managing to pay ₹1,700. In a handwritten note and a video recorded two days before the incident, he accused the principal, Pradeep Kumar, of “physical assault and public humiliation.” He said he was insulted in front of others, with the principal allegedly saying, “This college is not a dharamshala.”
He also claimed that the college administration refused to accept his exam form and that when he protested, three police personnel called by the college “abused and pushed” him out of the campus. The student wrote that if anything happened to him, the principal and the three police officers should be held responsible.
Videos from the scene show the student engulfed in flames, sending shockwaves through the campus. Students and locals soon gathered outside the college, staging protests and demanding strict action against the principal.
Based on a complaint by the student’s sister, police in Budhana have registered a case against the principal under sections 352 (assault) and 351(3) (threat causing serious harm) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Muzaffarnagar SSP Sanjai Kumar Verma said that the role of the three police personnel mentioned in the student’s statement is also being investigated.
District Magistrate Umesh Mishra and SSP Verma visited the college on Saturday evening and assured a thorough probe into the incident.
