Farewell Amrita Pancholi-IIM Indore Professor

The whole of Indore is shocked at the cruel murder of IIM Assistant Professor,Ms. Amrita Pancholi on Thursday,the 18th of Dec'09. Be it office, or a paan shop (beetle), the talks are only on this these days. Hazaar muh hazaar baten...Something beyond control and most unfair. After all, the death of a single woman aged 32, staying alone in the campus in one of the staff quarters is bound to make a spicy tale.

It is the work of an insider as per the police. And all evidences points to that. Everything will be clear in a day or two. All in all, it is a terrible thing to happen. A high- potential girl who could have contributed a lot towards the society is no more. The repercussions are going to be many. Particularly in a place like Indore where girls had just begun to dream big, this happening is going to scare them in a big way. The parents are also likely to put a halt to their daughters careers. Very much a case of,"One step forward, two steps backward".

This sure makes it imperative to look into the possible reasons for murder. As a working woman, I have often seen how unkindly people talk of single and slightly older women/girls. Students who come from various backgrounds are not to be excluded. There is, in fact, always a lot of curiosity, doubt, as also aspersions cast on working girls. If unchecked, they also take the form of overtures. It hurts to talk like this, but we have lost a precious life here. And something needs to be done fast. It cannot be ignored that in the case of Ms. Amrita, the age gap between her and the students was less. It is also not to be forgotten that students do at times pressurize teachers for marks. Ofcourse, the person does learn to handle it as he/she grows older. But, all these points do need to be taken into account.

Further, justice has to be imparted fast. We can't certainly have Taliban kind of system come into India. The best would be to have an Ombudsman, seperately for students and teachers. The students and staff will also have to be encouraged to go and speak to the Ombudsman once a while. So that any form of wrong behaviour will be nipped in the bud itself. This could help save a person from becoming a criminal and it could also save a person from falling a victim.

But, first in this case let's hope the culprit is caught at the earliest. We can't have a brave girl's story end this way.
Farewell Amrita!