21-Year-Old Found Dead At IIT Kharagpur Hostel; Second Death Within 48 Hours

Kolkata, West Bengal: A 21-year-old student of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Kharagpur was found dead inside his hostel room on Sunday. This is the second case of suicide within two days at the campus.

Shaon Malik, a Kolkata resident, was pursuing electrical engineering and reportedly was an award-winning student. His body was found in the Azad Hall of Residence by his parents, who had gone to visit him during the weekend.

A case of unnatural death has been filed, and a police investigation has begun into the matter. Malik’s body was taken to Midnapore Medical College for postmortem. Students who knew the deceased are being questioned while Malik’s phone has been seized.

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Calling the incident “unfortunate,” IIT Kharagpur director Amit Patra told the media, “He was a student who would score more than 9 CGPA in his studies which means he was a topper-level student. He was an all-rounder and took part in Bengali theatre. It is rather sad to see a student leave us this way. I cannot imagine what the parents must be going through.”

His death comes barely two days after Nasir Ali Mollah (30), a junior technician, was found hanging in the staff quarters inside the campus. He had been living on campus since 2022.

The IIT director also stated that both the cases are different and under police investigation. “We cannot compare the two cases. We will extend all our support in the investigations,” said Patra.

In October last year, K. Kiran Chandra (20), a fourth-year student of Electrical Engineering, was found hanging in his hostel room. His parents told the media that his son was under immense pressure at the university.

In June last year, Suriya Deepan (22), a chemistry intern from Kerala, was found dead in her hostel premises. She was also an academically gifted student.

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In October 2022, a third-year student, Faizan Ahmed, was found dead in a hostel. Autopsy reports revealed that he suffered from a gunshot wound on the upper left side and a stab wound on the right side of his neck.

A recent RTI query revealed that from 2019-20 to 2023-24, 37 students died by suicide across 11 of the 23 IITs. This includes six students from IIT Delhi. while IIT Hyderabad and IIT Madras each saw seven suicides.

IIT BHU four, and IIT Kanpur and IIT Kharagpur each reported three suicides.  IIT Bombay and IIT Dhanbad each had two suicides, while IIT Roorkee, IIT Dharwad, and IIT Gandhinagar each reported one.