CHENNAI: In a tragic incident at IIT Madras, a research scholar allegedly died by suicide on Monday night while a first-year B.Tech graduate attempted to kill himself and is undergoing treatment at the hospital.
The deceased Stephen Sunny, 27, a native of Maharashtra was a second-year MS Research Scholar in the Electrical Engineering department. According to the police, Sunny returned to his room in the hostel inside the campus on Monday afternoon and was not seen until night. His friends were suspicious when Sunny did not open the door after repeatedly knocking.
“They informed the hostel warden and broke open the door. They found that Sunny had killed himself and informed the cops,” said a senior police officer.
Based on the information, the Kotturpuram police registered a case and sent his body to the Royapettah Government Hospital for post-mortem. Police claimed that Sunny took the extreme decision due to personal reasons. However, the police have taken hold of his gadgets and are investigating. A few hours before at around 5.30 pm, Kotturpuram police received new information about another student who was unconscious.
According to the police, the 22-year-old man from Karnataka is a first-year B.Tech student. On Monday afternoon around 12.30 pm, he returned to his hostel room and did not attend any classes until evening, said the police.
“His friends who returned to the room around 5 pm found that the door was locked from inside and was not responding to the repeated door knocks or phone calls,” said the police officer. They broke open the door and found the man lying unconscious on the floor. He was immediately rushed to a private hospital where he is currently undergoing treatment.
After preliminary investigations, police said, the victim was allegedly depressed for the past few weeks. Further investigation is going on.
The IIT Madras management expressed its condolences for the death of Stephen Sunny. “The Institute endeavours and assures to improve and sustain the well-being of the students/scholars, faculty and staff on campus while constantly evaluating the various support systems in place,” it said in a statement.
(Assistance for those having suicidal thoughts is available on Tamil Nadu’s health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050)