Exclusive | PhD Scholar Dies By Suicide At IISER Kolkata: Students Allege Harassment, Institutional Neglect

Kolkata, West Bengal:  The death of 24-year-old PhD Scholar Anamitra Roy from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata has shaken the institute’s campus and sparked student protests over allegations of sustained harassment, ragging, and administrative inaction.

Roy, a second-year doctoral student in the Department of Biological Sciences, was found in critical condition late Thursday night after allegedly consuming sleeping pills on campus.

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He was rushed to AIIMS-Kalyani, but succumbed in the early hours of Friday. Police have confirmed that a post-mortem examination is pending. The official cause of death is yet to be released, though initial reports suggest sudden heart failure triggered by the overdose.

Anamitra Roy had been part of IISER Kolkata’s academic community since 2018, first enrolling in the BS-MS dual degree programme. After earning his Master’s degree, he rejoined the institute in 2022 as a PhD scholar in the Dog Lab, headed by Prof. Anindita Bhadra. Friends recall him as a passionate researcher, deeply committed to his work despite a history of depression that he openly spoke about.

In a final Facebook post, now widely circulated among students and alumni, Roy described years of alleged verbal abuse and humiliation at the hands of fellow PhD student Sourabh Biswas. According to Roy, Biswas was “bossy, abusive, and manipulative,” with a history of mistreating lab members and interns.

His Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2726432950887329&id=100005619513433&rdid=MvE2KWMVc2RUBJbC#

On April 12, 2025, Roy alleged that Biswas shouted at him “without provocation and without just cause,” accusing him over the position of his chair. Despite attempting to ignore the confrontation, the shouting allegedly escalated, with Biswas reportedly filming Roy and daring him to retaliate. Roy stated that the exchange triggered traumatic memories of his abusive childhood, leaving him “made to feel less than human” in his own workplace.

That day, Roy filed a formal complaint with IISER’s Anti-Ragging Committee. He made it clear he was reporting only this incident, despite having “a long list” of prior grievances.

In his note, Roy claimed that repeated earlier complaints to Prof. Bhadra about Biswas’s conduct were dismissed, with the professor advising him to “sort things out” himself. He also alleged that the SAC and senior administrators were more concerned with protecting the lab’s reputation than addressing harassment.

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“No action was taken. Not even an apology,” Roy wrote, stating that he had asked for nothing more than a formal apology copied to SAC and the anti-ragging committee. He expressed disappointment that the request was denied, despite “enough leverage” to push for harsher penalties.

On Friday night, after the news broke, students gathered for a candlelight march on campus. Eyewitnesses say they confronted Prof. Bhadra, the Dean, and the Associate Dean Ayan Banerjee  (who is also her husband), over their handling of the matter. “They are not completely accepting their fault,” one student told Timeline, adding that administrators have refused to issue a public apology for negligence.

Candle March By Students

 Participants say the administration has refused to issue an official apology despite “countless” requests, and many recall that a similar death in 2022 had prompted promises that “anything and everything” would be done to safeguard student mental health — promises they feel were never kept. Several attendees allege that Roy had earlier flagged instances of scientific misconduct in the lab to Bhadra, only to be silenced.

Roy’s final message traces a long battle with mental illness — recurrent depression since the age of 14, suicidal thoughts since school, and ongoing struggles with abuse both at home and in academia. He said therapy and medication had kept him alive “till today,” but the lack of accountability for his alleged abuser was unbearable.

“I was never made for this world,” he wrote. “If I am to be remembered, I hope I’ll be remembered for the kindness I showed to many who needed it.” He urged readers to “fight to ensure that my abuser, Sourabh Biswas, does not get his PhD and is brought to justice under anti-ragging rules.”

One student told Timeline that, following Roy’s death, the Dog Lab website removed its “People’s” page, erasing publicly available photos of Biswas and other members.

This move has further angered students, who accuse the institute of shielding those responsible. “It’s clear he didn’t get any support from his professor or the anti-ragging cell when he asked for help,” a peer said. When contacted, IISER Kolkata declined to comment beyond confirming Roy’s death.

Students say they had already mailed the Students’ Activity Committee (SAC) about the harassment, both before and after Roy’s death. Roy himself had told friends that he had written to SAC months earlier, but that the earlier acting committee had not responded properly. Students allege this pattern of silence from the council mirrors the wider institutional indifference that Roy described in his final note.