B.Tech student dies by suicide in IIT-M hostel

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CHENNAI: A 20-year-old student at IIT-Madras died by suicide in his hostel room in the campus. He was found dead on Tuesday morning.

The deceased, identified as V Vaipu Pushpak Sree Sai from Andhra Pradesh, was a third year B.Tech Electrical Engineering student. He was staying at Alaknanda hostel in the IIT campus. Since he did not turn up to the morning classes, his friends went to his room around 11 30 am to check on him. The students broke open the door and found him lying unconscious, as he the door was locked from inside. They alerted the hostel authorities who moved him to a hospital, where he was declared brought dead. Kotturpuram police have registered a case and sent the body to the Royapettah Government Hospital for post mortem examination. Police said that there was no suicide note in the hostel.

“Post-Covid has been a challenging environment and the Institute has been endeavouring to improve and sustain the well-being of the students/scholars, faculty and staff on campus while constantly evaluating the various support systems in place. A standing Institute Internal Inquiry Committee, including elected student representatives, which has been recently constituted will look into such incidents,” a statement from IIT Madras said.

A month ago, a MS Research Scholar from Maharashtra, Stephen Sunny killed himself in his room on February 14, while another student was admitted in the hospital in critical condition after attempting suicide.