IIT Kharagpur Student Hangs Himself; 9th Suicide Case On The Campus In Past 15 Months

Soham Halder, a fourth-year student at IIT Kharagpur, was found hanging in his hostel room after sending a scheduled message to his family. The 22-year-old was a student of a five-year dual-degree (BTech and MTech) course in electronics and electrical communication engineering.

“I am dying, my body will be in the room. I’ve left the security number. Call them to take my body from the room”, he wrote to his family in the message scheduled and reached Soham’s family in Barasat at 10:45 am on Tuesday. After seeing the message, Halder’s sister informed the IIT security officer, who went to the hostel and found the door locked from the inside.

The officer informed the cops at the Hijili outpost and the institute authorities. Police arrived at nearly 11 am. They broke down the door and found Halder hanging.

He was taken to the BC Roy Hospital, where he was declared dead. ‘Preliminary findings indicate suicide, but formal statements will be issued after the autopsy on Wednesday. His parents have been informed”, an officer reportedly said.

Halder was the ninth Kharagpur campus student to die in the past 15 months, and the second death in the institute within 10 days. On April 18, Jayveersinh Dodiya, a third-year engineering student, died after reportedly falling from the terrace of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hall of Residence.

Reportedly, Soham had backlogs and did not register for any course in the last two semesters. This should have been escalated by the department, according to a source.

As per the dean of student well-being Arun Chakraborty, Halder gave his exam on Monday and spoke to his family also.

Note: The growing number of suicide cases gives rise to many questions, varying from academic pressure, institutional and systemic mismanagement, growing stress and anxiety among students, societal and parental pressure, and high career expectations among many. This requires a comprehensive solution, along with avoiding overburdening human beings with expectational pressure.