IIT-Madras Student Found Dead In Hostel Room, Suicide Suspected

A second-year student of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chennai was found dead in his hostel room on Friday in what appears to be a case of suicide.

The student was found hanging in his hostel room on the campus, a police officer said and added a case has been registered and a probe is on. "He did not respond and then the hostel room's door was broken open and he was found hanging," the officer told PTI. 

Preliminary probe indicated that he may have had some issues arising out of him being in love with a woman, the officer added. 

The student was from Maharashtra and was pursuing Chemical Engineering at IIT Madras.

The institute released a statement in response to the incident. "We are deeply anguished to convey the untimely passing away of an undergraduate student from the Chemical Engineering Department in the afternoon of 21 April 2023 in his hostel room. The Institute has lost one of its own, and the professional community has lost a good student. The reason for the demise is unknown. Police are investigating. The parents have been informed," it said.

IIT Madras said it was taking all possible measures to proactively identify and help students under stress. "We will continue to keep strengthening these measures."

If confirmed, this will be the fourth suicide case reported from IIT-Madras this year.

On April 1, a 31-year-old PhD scholar at the institute died by suicide at his rental home in Chennai’s Velachery. The research scholar, a native of West Bengal, had left a cryptic status on WhatsApp saying, “I am sorry, not good enough”.

In March, a third-year student took his own life on the same campus. He was 20 years old. Meanwhile, another research scholar from Maharashtra hanged himself in his room at the IIT-Madras campus in February this year.

Chairing the 55th IIT Council meeting earlier this week, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan called for the complete eradication of social discrimination from campuses of educational institutions.

He called upon the directors to be proactive in providing all kinds of support to ensure "zero tolerance" for discrimination on campuses.

At least 34 students of various IITs across the country have died by suicide over the last five years.

In February this year, the suicide of Darshan Solanki, a first-year IIT-Bombay student, stirred outrage across the country after it was found that he was discriminated against on the basis of his caste. The college probe committee had, however, ruled out any such angle in its report.

Later, a batchmate was arrested for alleged abetment to suicide based on a suicide note recovered by the SIT probing the case.