Why there's so much stress among students in IIT, asks father of IIT Kharagpur student found hanging in hostel room

Father of K Kiran Chandra, fourth-year student of electrical engineering at IIT Kharagpur, who was founding hanging in his hostel room, alleged his son was “stressed due to a project”.

Talking to reporters, Kiran father Kethavath Chandra, said, “Why is there so much stress among students in IIT? He was stressed due to a project.”

“My son was good at studies. In the three years of his engineering course, he did not have any backlog. But he was depressed over this project. He had spoken to his professor, but was dismissed and asked to complete the project in time. I spoke to him last on October 16. He told me he was studying and would speak later. This is not about ragging, but they (IIT) could have helped him,” Kiran’s father said.

The victim’s family members also alleged that he was depressed over a project and had confided in his professor, who had brushed aside his apprehensions and asked him to complete it on time.

The deadline for submitting the assignment was Tuesday, the day Kiran was found hanging in his hostel room.

Police said Kiran hailed from Chetla Thimmaipally in Telangana’s Medak district and preliminary probe suggested that he allegedly died by suicide. A case has also been registered into the matter.

IIT statement on student’s alleged suicide

IIT Kharagpur issued a statement in connection with the incident and said the victim chose the path of “self-harm”.

“Till about 7:30 pm the student was with two of his roommates in their hostel room. Later, the other two students left for academic activities. Subsequently around 8:30 pm, fellow boarders found his room locked from inside,” the statement by the institute read.

Later, the door was forced open and his body was found, the statement added.

Security personnel and other students rushed the victim to the hospital where he was declared dead around 11:30 pm on Tuesday, police informed.

Kiran was allotted room number 513 in Lal Bahadur Shastri Hall along with two other fourth-year students.

West Midnapore police superintendent Dhritiman Sarkar said the post-mortem of the body was videographed and investigation was in progress.

The incident of Kiran’s unnatural death came exactly after a year when the partially decomposed remains of Faizan Ahmed, a third-year student at IIT Kharagpur from Assam, were discovered within his hostel room on October 14, 2022.

The authorities had to forcibly open the locked door to gain access.

Initially IIT Kharagpur said Faizan had taken his own life. However, on the orders of the Calcutta High Court, his body was exhumed, and a second post-mortem was conducted. The family claimed that their son was the victim of foul play and alleged that the institute was attempting to conceal the matter.

With inputs from agencies

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FP Staff