IIT Delhi BTech student dies by suicide; third case this year

NEW DELHI: Another engineering student of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi died by suicide. It is the third case of suicide this year at the institute. The dean of students confirmed the death of the BTech student Pranav Jain in an official mail.

"This is to inform you of the very sad and untimely demise of our BTech student Pranav Jain on October 31, 2023," the dean said. He informed that Jain was an active resident of Vindhyachal Hostel, he served as the cultural secretary last year and vice-captain of the hostel's basketball team.

As per the dean's statement, the BTech student took his own life at his home in Shahdara, Delhi. "We sincerely pray for his family, friends and colleagues to be able to garner some strength to deal with this inexplicable loss," the official added.

The registrar of IIT Delhi will soon announce a condolence meeting. The dean further expressed the need for support to deal with the "tragedy" and asked students to contact the institute's counselling services for help, if required.

A student-run page earlier informed about the incident on social media. “Once more, we're faced with the heart-wrenching news of a http://B.tech student, Pranav Jain from the Textile Department, who lived in Vindyanchal Hostel, tragically taking his own life,” the page of voice of IITD said in a post on X.

Once more, we're faced with the heart-wrenching news of a https://t.co/4CMvGM1XqY student, Pranav Jain from the Textile Department, who lived in Vindyanchal Hostel, tragically taking his own life. @iitdelhi @careers360 @AppscIITb @the_hindu @TheQuint @ThePrintHindi

— Voice Of IITD (@VoiceofIITD) November 1, 2023

Reacting to the news, the Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle (APPSC) of IIT Bombay said, “Third suicide from iitdelhi this year. We have lost count of the total number of students who we lost this year.”

Earlier in the month of September, BTech student Anil Kumar died by hanging in his hostel room. Coincidentally, Kumar also lived at the Vindhyachal Hostel. IIT Delhi director Rangan Banerjee had informed about the incident through an official mail.

Following the recent suicides, the institute had organised an open house meeting in the open-air theatre (OAT) in the campus on September 3. The open house meeting was conducted from 5 pm to 7 pm to hold discussions on the recent suicide events reported by the institute.

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