IIT-Kanpur student found dead in hostel room

Kanpur, Jan 12: In a second suspected case of suicide in the last one month, a second-year MTech student at IIT-Kanpur has been found dead in his hostel room, the police said, making it the second such incident in the premium institute within a month.

A senior police officer said on Thursday that though the exact reason behind the death is yet to be ascertained, the 31-year-old student was temporarily "terminated" from the institute recently after he failed to clear his exams in three attempts.

The student, a resident of Meerut, was found dead by fellow hostellers, Dhananjay Pandey, Station House Officer (SHO), Kalyanpur police station, said.

They then informed the authorities, who called the police.

"Police came to know about the incident after which a team was sent to the spot," the SHO added.

The deceased had enrolled in the aerospace engineering course at the premium institute in 2021.

"Prima facie it has emerged that the student took the extreme step after failing to clear the exams in three attempts, leading to his termination from the IIT," Pandey said.

The students who are terminated by the institute may appeal to get reinstated and reappear for exams, the officer said.

"The exact cause of death will be ascertained after the autopsy and forensic reports," the SHO added.

The father of the deceased said his son had recently visited the family. He was terminated by IIT Kanpur on January 4 and had the institute informed the family about it, they could have done something to help him, he added.

"He did not share anything with us about the termination. If we knew something like that had happened, we would have saved him," the father said.

A senior police officer said the student had left a note, which was missing.

"Some of his friends took away the note and passed it on to the family of the deceased," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), West, Vijay Dhull.

"The family has given in writing that it lost the suicide note."

IIT Kanpur in a statement said the institute mourns the untimely demise of an academically bright student, who enrolled in the MTech degree programme in 2021.

"A forensic team has taken stock of the situation, and the institute is waiting for the police to determine the exact reason behind the death," the institute added.

On December 20, a senior research scholar was found dead in the college.