The mother of University of Pennsylvania nursing student Arya Singh, who allegedly purchased cyanide on Amazon.com and used it to take her own life, is suing the Philadelphia school and online retailer, according to an AP report. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the 20-year-old Indian American junior died on Feb. 8, 2013 after ingesting soluble cyanide crystals in her dorm room.
The suit alleges the university failed to support Singh after her life deteriorated following a 2011 sexual assault by another student, who remained on campus even after the assault was reported. Using a debit card, Singh purchased the cyanide from a vendor in Thailand, the suit says. The cyanide was delivered Dec. 18 in a small envelope to the package room of the Rodin College House, where Singh lived, the suit says.
A disciplinary hearing for Singh was scheduled on Feb. 8, 2013, stemming from an academic misconduct investigation, according to the suit. The university placed her in a status that prevented her from registering for classes for the spring semester.
Because she could not register for classes, she was told, she had to vacate her campus house. She had sought to stay in her dorm until the hearing. According to the suit, the hearing was canceled, but she was never notified.
Around noon on Feb. 8, a university employee went to Singh’s room and told her that she had to move out immediately, according to the suit. Around 3 p.m. that day, Singh’s roommate found her unresponsive. Singh was taken to a hospital and was pronounced dead that night.
The complaint, filed in July in Common Pleas Court, also names as defendants a citizen of Thailand and his company, which sold the cyanide. Attorneys for Amazon and the university say they won’t comment on pending litigation.