IIT Kanpur PhD student dies by suicide in hostel room, institute condoles demise

KANPUR: A Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur PhD student on Tuesday night died by hanging himself in the hostel room, the institute said in a statement. Prasant Singh was a student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at IIT Kanpur.

“With deepest regret, IIT Kanpur condoles the untimely and unfortunate demise of a PhD student. The incident happened on September 6, 2022, at about 8:30 PM.”

A resident of Hall 8 called the Institute security section to report that Prasant Singh’s room was locked from the inside and was unresponsive to knocks. When the Institute’s administrators forcibly opened the door, they discovered Prasant Singh hanging from the ceiling with the help of a bedsheet.

He was hurried to the health centre of the Institute, where the on-call physician pronounced him dead.

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“In the meantime, Prasant Singh’s family members and the city police were made aware of his tragic passing. The police forensic team came that same evening and began their investigations. Prasant Singh’s body was taken to the Mortuary of Hallet Hospital, Kanpur. The Institute is awaiting the police investigation to determine the likely reason behind this tragic incident,” the institute informed.

Prasant Singh, a student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering with outstanding academic qualifications, enrolled in IIT Kanpur in 2019 for his master’s degree before deciding to enrol in a PhD programme in 2021. With his passing, the Institute lost a talented student and aspiring scientist, IIT Kanpur said.

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