Nursing student survives suicide attempt after 'principal's abuse' in Lahore

• Student submits application to secretary health, says DG Nursing.
• "She has been harassing me for six months," says nursing student.
• Student hails from Gujranwala and was pursuing nursing in Lahore.
  

LAHORE: A first-year nursing student at Fatima Jinnah Medical University survived an alleged suicide attempt and has called on Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to intervene in a case of harassment and character assassination by the institution's female principal.

Iman Fatima, a first-year student at the university's College of Nursing and Midwifery, was saved by fellow nurses when she was reportedly attempting to cut her jugular vein on Sunday.

According to Director General Nursing Punjab, Tahira Sagheer, the student's alleged suicide attempt came following the behaviour of the institution's principal, who would allegedly resort to abusive words, harassment, and character assassination.

Sagheer added that the student — who hails from Gujranwala and was pursuing nursing in the Lahore college — had sought leaves from the prinicpal.

As per the DG Nursing, the student has submitted an application to the secretary health for action against the principal, the hearing for which will be held today.

"Principal, student, and eye witness nurses have all been summoned with regards to the case. If the allegations are proven true, action will be taken," said Sagheer.

Meanwhile, the student alleged character assassination at the hands of the principal who used abusive words and harassed her.

"The principal behaves like this with every girl including me," she alleged, adding that the college administration did not inform her parents about her injury and also did not allow them to meet her.

"I took this step after the principal humiliated me and defamed my character," said the student. "She has been harassing me for six months."

The incident comes to light days after ongoing unrest across Punjab, particularly in Lahore, over rape allegations which went viral on social media platforms prompting students to hold multiple demonstrations across various cities in recent days.

More than two dozen people, including four policemen, were injured in violent protests in Lahore last week.

The turmoil eventually warranted a strong response from CM Maryam who, while speaking to the media on October 16, announced a crackdown on those spreading fake news regarding the rape of a student.