CHENNAI: A 21-year-old student of IIT-Madras died, allegedly by suicide, in his hostel room on Thursday evening. Police officials said that they could not find a suicide note and that the student might have taken the extreme step worrying about his performance in academics.
According to the Kotturpuram police, the student who hails from Odisha, was a fourth-year student of aeronautical engineering at the institute. Around 6 pm on Thursday, his hostel mates knocked on his door as he had not come out of his room during the day. When there was no response, they alerted the warden.
When they broke open the door, he was found dead inside.
On being alerted, the Kotturpuram police recovered the body and sent it to the Government Royapettah Hospital for an autopsy.
The police said the student’s friends informed investigating officers that he had been depressed for the past couple of days.
A case has been registered and an investigation is on.
A statement from IIT-Madras said that the parents of the student had been informed and that they were on their way to Chennai.
The institute has requested for the privacy of the family to be respected.
(Assistance for those having suicidal thoughts is available on Tamil Nadu’s health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050)