171 IIT students died unnatural deaths in 20 years, 82% suicides on campus: IIT alumnus' report

The data has been compiled by Dheeraj Singh, an IIT Kanpur alumnus and founder of a platform supporting students from SC/ST category.

At least 171 students in various Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have died by suicide or in other unnatural ways in the last 20 years – between January 2006 and September 2026.

IIT Bombay is witnessing student protests after 22-year-old Sahil Wakode, a second-year B.Tech, died by suicide. (Satish Bate/HT Photo)

The data has been compiled by Dheeraj Singh, an IIT Kanpur alumnus and founder of a platform supporting students from scheduled castes and scheduled tribes (SC/STs). Singh, whose data is based on RTI applications and media reports, says this is a 135% increase in the number of reported deaths since 2006, the earliest year for which he could source data on unnatural deaths.

IIT suicides and unnatural deaths in the last 20 years (RTI and media reports)

He says the number of deaths has increased sharply in the second half of this period, with 120 deaths recorded between 2016 and September 2026 compared to 51 between 2006 and 2015.

“About 82% of suicides occurred on IIT campuses, suggesting that campus-linked factors may require closer examination,” says Singh, whose platform is called Global IIT Alumni Support Group and IIT Kanpur Alumnus.

Rise in deaths during exams, drop in semester breaks

Student deaths were reported more frequently around examinations and the announcing of results, and declined during semester breaks, according to Singh, adding that in 70% of suicide cases, students had taken their lives by hanging.

According to Singh’s estimates, male BTech students and women PhD students appear to be a particularly vulnerable group and together account for around 60% of suicides in the 20-year period. The data also points to differences based on social category. Singh’s analysis estimates that the suicide death rate among SC and ST students was around twice that of general category students during this period. It also found that SC and ST students who died were, on average, younger than their counterparts in the general and OBC counterparts.

Singh’s estimates also indicates a sharp rise after Covid-19, with the estimated suicide death rate among SC students around 2.6 times higher and among ST students around 4.2 times higher than before the pandemic. Singh claims to have used methodology followed by the World Health Organisation for suicide death rates but cautions that his data is based on RTI responses and media reports and may not have captured deaths accurately.