**Bhubaneswar:** A pal of gloom descended upon Banjipadar village under Karlamunda block of Kalahandi district today during the last rites of Rashmi Ranjan Suna, the first science graduate from the village, who was pursuing his PhD in Physics at University of Hyderabad (UoH).
After battling with dengue and multiple organ failure for over two days at a private hospital in Hyderabad, Rashmi lost his life on Sunday morning. The incident shocked his friends and well-wishers at the varsity who had tried their best to bring him back from the jaws of death.
The only son of Sunil Suna and Hansamani Suna, Rashmi was a first-generation marginalised student hailing from Western Odisha. After defying all odds, he started his journey at the UoH in 2012 as an MSc student of Physics. Presently he was in the 4th year of PhD programme when the tragedy struck.
Known as a very meritorious and workaholic scholar, Rashmi has co-authored two papers, “Amplified measurement of weak optical activity using a spin-phase-gradient beam” in the journal of Optics Letters and “Spin-orbit beams for optical chirality measurement” in the journal of Applied Physics Letters, respectively.
Rashmi had already been selected for an International Conference, “SPIE Photonics West 2019” to be held in San Francisco, USA.
His father Sunil, despite being a farmer, had provided good education to Rashmi and his sister, who is presently pursuing her Certificate in Teaching (CT) course in Nabarangpur. His death is a huge loss to his family, community, village and academics as well. He would have been a great inspiration for many other kids in his native place.
**Also Read:** [Odia PhD Scholar Battling With Life In Hyderabad](https://ommcomnews.com/odisha-news/odia-phd-scholar-battling-with-life-in-hyderabad)
