Bengal: Mechanical engineering student found dead in IIT Kharagpur hostel room

Preliminary probe suggests the 21-year-old Kolkata student died by suicide, marking it the 4th such case on the IIT Kharagpur campus since January

Kolkata: A 21-year-old mechanical engineering student at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur in West Bengal was found dead in his hostel room on Friday morning, with preliminary investigations suggesting death by suicide, police said.

Police said that no suicide note was found and the student’s body was sent for postmortem. (Representative photo)

Police said that no suicide note was found and the student’s body was sent for postmortem.

“A fourth-year student of mechanical engineering was found hanging in his hostel room on Friday morning. He was a resident of Kolkata. His parents have arrived,” Bhargab Maitra, a civil engineering professor and dean of students at IIT Kharagpur, said.

According to police officers, the student had returned to the institute on Wednesday. He had gone home for summer vacation. Their classes had resumed on Thursday.

“On Friday morning at 10.40 am, the student’s father called up the hostel officials and said that his son was not taking calls. The hostel warden had gone to his room to check. When the student did not respond, the IIT authorities informed the police,” a police officer said.

The police broke open the hostel room door and found the student hanging. “Preliminary investigations suggest that the student may have died by suicide, but the police are waiting for the autopsy report,” the officer said.

“As per records reviewed at the institute’s SARTH Counselling Centre, there were no prior indicators of mental health concerns. The faculty advisor from the department said that there were no apparent academic and non-academic issues that caught their attention,” a statement issued by IIT Kharagpur said.

Three more students have died by suicide on the campus since January. In May this year a third-year civil engineering student died by suicide. In April, a fourth-year student of ocean engineering and naval architecture was found dead in his hostel room. In January, a third-year student of electrical engineering died by suicide in his hostel room.

Following the April incident, IIT Kharagpur authorities introduced a series of measures like counselling calendars and barcodes on every hostel room door for students to scan and seek help from on-campus counsellors.

If you need support or know someone who does, please reach out to your nearest mental health specialist. Helplines: Aasra: 022 2754 6669; Sneha India Foundation: +914424640050 and Sanjivini: 011-24311918; Roshni Foundation (Secunderabad) Contact Nos: 040-66202001, 040-66202000; ONE LIFE: Contact No: 78930 78930, SEVA: Contact No: 09441778290