In yet another alleged suicide case, a second-year undergraduate student of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-Madras) was found dead on Friday, marking the fourth such incident at the institute this year.
The student was found hanging in his hostel room on the campus, a police officer said, adding a case has been registered and a probe is on.
On March 14, a third-year B-Tech student of IIT-Madras died by suicide.
The premier institute said the post-Covid environment has been challenging, and that it has strived to improve and sustain the well-being of students/scholars, faculty and staff on campus, while constantly evaluating the various support systems in place.
Suicide cases at IIT-Madras this year:
1. April 21: A police officer at Kotturpuram police station, where a case of unnatural death was registered, said a purported suicide note recovered from the 20-year-old student’s hostel room said he took the extreme step over a relationship. The student is from Maharashtra and was a student at the department of chemical engineering. The suicide came to light after the student’s friends noticed his room locked for several hours. They informed the hostel warden who alerted the police, an officer said. The police arrived and broke open the door and found him dead, the officer added.
The IIT-Madras, which conveyed its condolence to the bereaved, said: "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." The Institute said it is taking all possible measures to proactively identify and help students under stress. "We will continue to keep strengthening these measures."
{{/usCountry}}The IIT-Madras, which conveyed its condolence to the bereaved, said: "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." The Institute said it is taking all possible measures to proactively identify and help students under stress. "We will continue to keep strengthening these measures."
{{/usCountry}}2. March 31: A 32-year-old PhD student of the IIT, Madras, died by suicide in his room in Tamil Nadu's Velachery. The deceased student was a native of West Bengal. This was the 11th case since 2018 at the institute. “On March 31, the deceased student posted a WhatsApp status 'I am sorry not good Enough'. Seeing the status, his friends reached his home and found Sachin hanging in his room,” police said.
3. March 14: A third-year BTech student of IIT-Madras died by suicide, police said. The 20-year-old student of the electrical engineering department, who hailed from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, was found hanging in his hostel room by his roommates.
4. February 14: A post-graduate student of engineering at IIT Madras also died by suicide. He too was found dead in his hostel room.
Similar cases have also been reported from other IITs, most prominently from IIT-Bombay, where an 18-year-old Dalit student died by suicide on February 12.
(With inputs from Divya Chandrababu in Chennai)
Discussing suicides can be triggering for some. However, suicides are preventable. A few major suicide prevention helpline numbers in India are 011-23389090 from Sumaitri (Delhi-based) and 044-24640050 from Sneha Foundation (Chennai-based).