Karachi: Supervisor accused of putting pressure, PhD students alleged suicide.

KARACHI: A spokesperson of the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) at Karachi University has rejected media reports about the alleged suicide of PhD student Nadia Ashraf.

In a statement issued in this regard, the spokesperson of Dr. Panjuani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research said that if Nadia Ashraf has committed suicide, she is fed up with her personal problems.

The statement termed the rumors circulating on social media about the alleged suicide of Nadia Ashraf, a PhD student of Karachi University, as baseless and false and said that the death of Nadia Ashraf was a tragedy for Dr Panjwani Center and all those associated with it.

It may be recalled that a day earlier, a web report had claimed that a student named Nadia Ashraf had committed suicide out of frustration with the atrocities of her PhD supervisor Dr Iqbal Chaudhry.

The report said that Nadia Ashraf had not been able to complete her PhD in the last 15 years and it was claimed that Nadia Ashraf was allegedly telling her close friends that 'Dr Iqbal Chaudhry should not be my PhD'.

The report also quoted the deceased student as saying that when she took a job in another research organization, Dr Iqbal Chaudhry tried to terminate her job there as well.

After the report came to light, users on social media started lamenting Nadia Ashraf's death and demanding justice for her and the hashtag Justice for Nadia became a top trend.

On the other hand, the spokesperson of Dr. Panjwani Center said that Nadia Ashraf had enrolled in M.Phil Ph.D. in 2007 under the supervision of Dr. Amin Surya and after the departure of Dr. Amin Surya she completed her Ph.D. under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Iqbal Chaudhry. 

According to the spokesperson, Dr. Panjwani Center had also sent Nadia Ashraf to France for research training and claimed that the students could not concentrate on research there due to their illnesses and domestic problems.

The spokesperson said that Nadia Ashraf was well supported by Prof. Iqbal Chaudhry to complete her degree which was the reason why she respected Prof. Iqbal Chaudhry like her father.

The statement said that Nadia Ashraf stayed away from Dr. Panjwani Center and worked in many other institutions to support her family. Due to these engagements, Nadia's visit to Panjwani Center was very limited.

The spokesperson claimed that Nadia Ashraf was suffering from severe depression due to her domestic worries. In the past, the disappearance of her father was also a major cause of her depression.

According to a statement issued by Dr. Panjwani Center, Nadia's supervisor assisted her several times and also extended her registration period so that she could somehow complete her PhD dissertation.

The statement said that Prof. Iqbal Chaudhry is a renowned scientist of the country under whose supervision more than 100 researchers have completed their PhD.

On the other hand, Superintendent of Police (SP) Sharqi Sajid Amir Saduzai said that the parents of the student did not want any investigation in this regard.