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On student's death by suicide, father asks IIT-Kharagpur ‘why so much stress’
The father of IIT Kharagpur student questioned the institute on academic pressure and dimissed ragging as the reason of his son's death.
The recent death of a fourth year student of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, once again raised concerns over students facing academic pressure at premium institutes in the country.
K Kiran Chandra was a student of IIT Kharagpur in the electrical engineering department who allegedly died by suicide on Wednesday. Thee institute said in a statement that the victime chose the path of ‘self-harm’, while mourning the sudden demise.
Read more: IIT-Delhi students meet faculty members after suicide at hostel
The student's father claimed that Chandra was in a lot of pressure. “Why is there so much stress? Why is our kid being made to suffer so much at IIT?” he asked, rulling out ragging as a possible reason of his son's death.
"Till about 7:30 pm the student was with two of his roommates in their hostel room. Later, the other two students left for academic activities. Subsequently around 8:30 pm, fellow boarders found his room locked from inside,” the statement said.
The student lived at the Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) Hall of Residence. A police investigation has been initiated after a registering a case.
“As of now, we have not received any complaint from the victim’s family alleging foul play. An unnatural death case has been registered under the Indian Penal Code. We are waiting for the autopsy report,” a police official said.
Earlier in 2022, a third-year mechanical engineering student from Assam, was found dead in his hostel room. The 23-year-old victim’s parents had moved the Calcutta high court alleging that he was murdered. The high court had later set up a special investigation team (SIT), to probe the death and allowed a narco-analysis test of the witnesses.
