Fourth Year IIT Kharagpur Student Dies By Suicide: Institute Says He "Chose The Path Of Self-harm" (image: iitkgp.ac.in)
A 20-year old engineering student from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur was found dead in his hostel room on Tuesday. K Kiran Chandra, was seen found hanging in his hostel room. He was a fourth-year student in the Electrical Engineering branch. The deceased was a resident of the Medak district of Telangana.
His father, K Chander, told the reporters that his son was under a lot of pressure, “Why is there so much stress? Why is our kid being made to suffer so much at IIT,” and he ruled out ragging as the possibility of Kiran”s death.
The increasing students suicides at the premier engineering institutes in the country stresses on to the academic pressure going unnoticed.
IIT Kharagpur in an official statement said that Kiran had “chose the path of self-harm.” The student stayed at the Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) Hall of Residence. And as per the Institute”s statement, Kiran was with two of his roommates in their hostel room till about 7.30 pm, then the roommates left academic activities. Around 8.30 pm, other fellow boarders of the LBS Hall found his room locked from inside.
“The door was forced open and he was found hanging. The Security and other students brought him to the BC Roy Technology Hospital immediately. Despite all efforts by the doctors, Kiran was declared dead around 11:30 PM,” the institute said.
The police have registered a case and launched investigation on unnatural death under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and have sent Kiran’s body to the Midnapore Medical College and Hospital for a post-mortem examination, The South First reports.
Since 2022, Kiran”s death marks the third instance of unnatural death at IIT Kharagpur. In last October, 23-year-old Faizan Ahmed, a third-year Mechanical Engineering student from Assam, was found dead in his hostel room on the Kharagpur campus. A Special Investigation Team (SIT), is currently examining the case. And in June this year, Suriya Deepan GS, a 22-year-old chemistry intern, passed away under mysterious circumstances after falling ill.
