IIT Kharagpur assures students of 'adequate steps' following engineering student's death

KOLKATA : IIT Kharagpur has assured agitating students that "adequate steps" would be taken to address their concerns following the unnatural death of a third year mechanical engineering student on the campus. The decomposed body of 23-year-old Faizan Ahmed, who hailed from Assam's Tinsukia, was found in his room on October 14.

Hundreds of students, donning black ribbons to mourn Ahmed's death, took part in an open house discussion with Director V K Tewari from Friday night to early on Saturday. Discussions were held on mental health concerns of the students, a spokesperson of the institute said on Sunday. The director informed the students that "adequate steps" would be taken internally to address their concerns, while terming Ahmed's death as extremely "sad and unfortunate", she said. Dean of Students Affairs, Dhrubajyoti Sen, submitted his resignation to the institute authorities on October 19 in the wake of the incident but it is yet to be accepted, the spokesperson said.

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Students alleged that there were several lapses on the administration's part, including not immediately informing the student's parents about the incident and only students bringing the body from the hostel to the hospital, a third year electrical engineering student, who took part in the discussion, said.

A spokesperson of 'Scholars' Avenue', the student-run campus newspaper, said, "After seven days of silence, the director agreed to address the general body of the institute and answer our queries regarding the apathetic handling of the incident." While Ahmed's mother alleged that he could not have died by suicide and demanded a proper investigation, the institute claimed that no foul play was suspected and said it was looking into the circumstances leading to the death.

Institute Registrar Tamal Nath said that the institute has roped in two non-governmental organisations to provide counselling to students stressed by the incident. This was the second instance of the death of an IIT student in the country in a week. A 20-year-old BTech student of IIT Guwahati was found hanging inside his room on October 10.