IIT-M suspends its faculty in connection with student's suicide
"We have received information that professor Ashish Sen, the PhD supervisor of Sachin Jain is under suspension. The decision is following the investigation report submitted by the inquiry committee headed by retired IPS G Thilakavathi," said Voice of Students-IIT-M, a student body's official handle in social media.
IIT-Madras
CHENNAI: The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) recently suspended one of its faculty members, Ashish Sen in connection with the suicide of PhD scholar Sachin Kumar Jain, following the recommendations of retired DGP G Thilakavathi's panel and the direction of the Board of Governors.
"We have received information that professor Ashish Sen, the PhD supervisor of Sachin Jain is under suspension. The decision is following the investigation report submitted by the inquiry committee headed by retired IPS G Thilakavathi," said Voice of Students-IIT-M, a student body's official handle in social media.
"Even though IIT-Madras has not made an official statement on the same, we have received confirmation from some faculties that professor Sen was suspended after the report was discussed in multiple Senate and BoG meetings with strong opposition from a section of faculties. The detailed report submitted by the inquiry committee came to the conclusion that professor Sen is responsible for the suicide of Sachin earlier this year. We congratulate the IIT-M administration for such a strong and courageous action against one of their peers. This is a victory to many students who came together for the protests following Sachin's suicide," it claimed.
Ensuring this, an insider from IIT-M said, "Professor Ashish Sen was suspended on November 24 based on the decision by the Board of Governors."
It may be recalled that the Ph.D. scholar Sachin Kumar Jain (32) was found dead on March 31, 2023, at his residence in Velachery after putting up a WhatsApp status saying, "I am sorry, I am not good enough".
Subsequently, Sachin's elder brother Bhavesh Jain in April wrote to the IIT-M blaming his PhD guide Ashish Sen for his brother's death.
After the suicide of Sachin followed by the students' protest, the IIT-M formed a five-member internal inquiry committee headed by retired DGP G Thilakavathi including Amal Manoharan, a research scholar on April 25, 2023.
On August 14, the committee submitted its findings and recommendations to the Director V Kamakoti, IIT-Madras.
