New Delhi:
A student died by suicide at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur on Wednesday, once again highlighting the academic pressures at India’s premier engineering institute.
K Kiran Chandra, a fourth-year electrical engineering student, was found hanging in his hostel room, the institute said in a statement.
His father, K Chander, alleged that Chandra was under a lot of pressure: “Why is there so much stress? Why does our child have to suffer so much in IIT,” his father told the media.
He also said he doesn’t think his son was ragged, but was under a lot of stress from academics.
IIT said Chandra was staying at the Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) Hall of Residence and he died by suicide on Tuesday evening.
“Till about 7:30 PM, Chandra was with two of his housemates in their hostel room. Later, the other two students left for academic activities. Then, around 8:30 PM, fellow administrators of the LBS Hall found his room locked from inside. The door was broken open …Despite all efforts of doctors, Chandra was declared dead at around 11.30 pm,” IIT Kharagpur said in the statement.
A police investigation into the matter has been launched.
A year ago, the decomposed body of a third-year student Faizan Ahmed of IIT Kharagpur, a native of Assam, was found in his hostel room on October 14.
While IIT Kharagpur had said that Faizan had committed suicide, the body was exhumed on the orders of the Calcutta High Court and a second autopsy was conducted. The family alleged that he was murdered on campus and accused the institute of trying to hush up the matter.