IIT Kharagpur forms fact-finding panel after BTech student’s death

KOLKATA: A senior IIT-Kharagpur official on Monday said a 10-member fact-finding team has been formed by the premier institute to explore the circumstances and factors which led to the death of fourth-year BTech student Ritam Mondal who was found hanging in his hostel room on July 18.

Institute director Suman Chakraborty, who recently took charge, said the panel would explore academic, social and psychological factors and is expected to submit its recommendations soon. While police are conducting a probe on its part, the institute has constituted a 10-member fact-finding committee internally, Chakraborty told PTI.

"He is our own child. We are saddened by his death. IIT Kharagpur does not exert pressure on students in a way that they feel stressed. We need to find out why such an incident happened," he added.

Chakraborty had met the father of the deceased and interacted with him for about an hour after the grief-stricken parent arrived at the campus on hearing the news of his son's death. Mondal, a 21-year-old mechanical engineering student, had returned to campus on July 15, a day after the convocation, following a two-month vacation. His roommate had not yet returned to the hostel.

"We have to think if there are social factors involved in such incidents," he said. "If someone comes to the help of such pupils during moments of extreme mental stress, certainly such situations can be averted," he reasoned.

IIT-KGP SARTH counselling centre

The committee will come up with certain recommendations by this month, he added. Mondal was found hanging in his room at Rajendra Prasad (RP) Hall hostel on July 18, the fourth unnatural death case on the campus since January.

"There were no recorded indicators of mental health concerns in the records of the SARTH Counselling Centre. Additionally, the departmental faculty advisor reported no apparent academic or personal issues," the institute noted.

On January 12, Shaon Malik , a third-year electrical engineering student, died by suicide. On April 20, Aniket Walker, a final-year Ocean Engineering student from Maharashtra, was found hanging in JC Bose Hall. On May 4, Mohammad Asif Qamar, a third-year BTech student from Bihar, was found dead in his room at Madan Mohan Malviya Hall.

Apart from installing bar codes on the gates of every hostel room where the helpline number of counselling services can be scanned by a student in emotional stress at any hour, the institute recently launched a 'Campus Mothers' programme, where women faculty and staff members serve as emotional mentors for students.