Varsity says Pinky's result was awaited, not marked zero

GURGAON: Exam controller B S Sindhu of Maharishi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak, on Tuesday, read out the university's clarification on the Pinky Chauhan case. The statement went: "We express grief on the death of one of our students. However, we would like to clarify that on September 25, when the results were announced, Pinky Chauhan was not given zero in physics, her result was marked "AW", which means her result was awaited.It was so done as the university hadn't yet received marks of the practical examination from the college. Later, when the results were updated to 60, her practical marks were taken into consideration. In mathematics, she had been marked 57, which was later updated to 60 with the addition of three grace marks."
The statement also said that besides Pinky, many other students had been marked this way in the results. Before she passed away, though, Pinky, in her statement to the police, had claimed she had initially been marked zero in both subjects, said her brother Arun Chauhan.
The university faced a lot of flak as it updated the marks of several students on its website on September 29, in the wake of Pinky's self-immolation bid. "Many students were surprised when their marks were updated from zero to 60. I'm sure Pinky was marked 'F' (failed) in maths," said a friend. Arun agreed. "The clarification is baseless. With Pinky's roll number, I checked her results every day since her immolation bid. While earlier she was marked 'F' in maths, on September 29, it was updated."
New college principal Gyanendra Singh was unavailable for comments. Suresh Dhanerwal, a professor at the college, said, "Examiners from different colleges visit to conducted practicals. They update their evaluations online. There is a possibility the examiner had forgotten to enter those marks before closing the website, due to which, the university might not have received the scores of the practicals on time."