Kolkata 

The body of a third-year undergraduate student was discovered inside the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur campus in the early hours of Sunday (January 12, 2025).

The deceased was a student of the Electrical Engineering department, and his body was discovered in the Azad Hall of Residence inside the IIT Kharagpur premises. Whether the student died by suicide or if there was a foul play is yet to be confirmed by the police.

According to sources in the institute, The Hindu learnt that the parents of the deceased had come to pay him a regular visit at the campus early on Sunday (January 12, 2025), but he did not respond to their calls. When they knocked on his door, there was no response. They forcefully opened the door only to discover his lifeless body.

The source who wanted to remain anonymous also added, “His parents come frequently because he suffers from some health ailment. Recently, his parents requested to shift him from three person room to a single room citing academic issues.” 

The body of the 21-year-old has been sent to post-mortem and local police are further investigating the matter. Sniffer dogs were on site, along with local police, and the institute’s own security guards. Police are looking into the call logs of the deceased as part of the investigation.

A huge crowd had gathered outside the Azad Hall of Residence after the news spread, but was later disbursed by the police.

IIT Kharagpur issued a statement and expressed their condolences and said the student was an “academically gifted student”. They added, “His family is already on the campus. The police are conducting a thorough investigation into the circumstances… . The institute is fully cooperating with the authorities.”

Series of on-campus deaths

A third-year student of IIT Kharagpur was found dead on Sarojini Naidu/Indira Gandhi Hall premises on June 17, 2024.

This came as the death of third-year student Faizan Ahmed’s death inside IIT Kharagpur remained unsolved and questions were being raised about the institute’s role in the whole incident. Ahmed’s semi-decomposed body was found inside the IIT Kharagpur campus on October 14, 2022. The body was found in a hostel room that was originally not assigned to him, which raised multiple safety concerns on the IIT premises. 

A fourth-year student was also found dead on the campus on October 19, 2023. The student hailed from Telangana and studied in the Electrical Engineering department. 

“Multiple such deaths have lead to a lot of fear within the campus. There is a huge academic pressure on students. Most third and fourth year students suffer from depression and this is main cause of the series of suicides within the campus,” added the source. 

(AASRA suicide prevention helpline number: 91-9820466726)