IIT-M suicide: Student struggled with grades, say police
The 20 year old student who died on Tuesday was unable to cope with the pressure of the college, police officials said. “He had arrears which he couldn’t clear. From our investigations we have found that he couldn’t study properly and get good grades,” said a senior police officer of the Kotturpuram police station on condition of anonymity.
A day after a 20 year old B Tech student committed suicide at IIT Madras, the second case of suicide at the institution since February, the college has said that a newly formed Internal Inquiry Committee that includes elected student representatives, will look into all such incidents.
A statement by the institute said, “Post Covid has been a challenging environment and the Institute has been endeavouring to improve and sustain the well-being of the students/scholars, faculty and staff on campus while constantly evaluating the various support systems in place,” the institute said. “The parents of the student have been informed and we request everyone to please respect the privacy of the family at this unfortunate moment. The Institute expresses its sincere condolences and stands united in grief along with the friends and family of the deceased student.”
The 20 year old student who died on Tuesday was unable to cope with the pressure of the college, police officials said. “He had arrears which he couldn’t clear. From our investigations we have found that he couldn’t study properly and get good grades,” said a senior police officer of the Kotturpuram police station on condition of anonymity. “He had not attended classes for a week. He has three roommates who tried speaking to him but he wasn’t responding properly to him. On Tuesday, around 9am they met him downstairs outside of the hostel. They thought that he would come to class but he hadn’t. We don’t know at what time he died by suicide but when his room-mates went back they found the room locked and they informed authorities.” The Kotturpuram Police has registered a case of unnatural death and sent the body to Royapettah Government Hospital for autopsy for post mortem.
On February 14, a post-graduate student died by suicide and another student attempted suicide by consuming pills but he was rescued. Following this the students had gone on an overnight protest against the management. They placed a list of demands and actions with IIT-M director V Kamokoti including an external expert committee to study the mental health of IIT-M students, addressing the professor- student relationship for research scholars, increasing facilities at the institute’s medical centre such as making the pharmacy 24x7.
IIT-Madras director V Kamokoti on Wednesday attributed the suicides on campus to four reasons- financial stress, personal reasons, academic pressure and health issues. “And each of this is interconnected,” said Kamakoti. He was speaking to reporters after the health minister M Subramanian launched a report ‘Socio-Economic Costs of Suicide in Tamil Nadu’ in IIT-M on Wednesday. “In the last three suicides we find that lessened social interactions following the Covid-19 pandemic is also a problem for them. After Covid, a lot of them have depression and we are been giving them counselling. We have a plans but implementation is taking time and by then unfortunately this suicide has happened. In a campus of 12,000 students, we will know if they are stressed or depressed only when they come out and socialise.” He categorically declined cases of discrmination. “There are zero cases of discrimination and ragging in IIT-Madras,” the director said.