Today, a student from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur’s semi-decomposed body was found on campus. Faizan Ahmed, a 23-year-old student, is thought by police to have committed suicide.
Authorities from IIT Kharagpur report that the student from Tinsukia in Assam just moved into the dormitory.
Himanta Biswa Sarma, the chief minister of Assam, tweeted today to express his condolences: “We are very saddened by the tragic passing of Faizan Ahmed, a talented young student from Tinsukia who was enrolled at the esteemed IIT Kharagpur. I offer my sympathies to his family and friends. May he rest in peace, his soul.”
Ahmed was a third-year student at IIT Kharagpur studying mechanical engineering. His passing has been reported to his family.
The campuses of India’s foremost scientific and technology universities have recently been shocked by several suicide fatalities. Two IIT students were discovered deceased last month on two different campuses.
A college student was discovered dead on September 15 at IIT Madras in Chennai, perhaps by suicide. The student was enrolled in the fourth year of the Aerospace Engineering program. There was no suicide note found.
Another IIT Guwahati student was discovered dead in his dormitory room on September 17; this incident is believed to have been a suicide. Police reports claim that the student had been identified as Surya Narayan Premkishore, from Kerala. He was studying at the Design Faculty.
Two suicides were recorded in two days from the IIT campuses in Hyderabad and Kanpur in September alone.
In July of this year, a 22-year-old engineer was discovered dead in the IIT Madras hockey stadium. Initial investigations determined that he committed suicide. He had left a note indicating he could not handle his duties while employed as a project engineer at IIT Madras, according to the police.
