BENGALURU: A 19-year-old second-year BTech student at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) was found dead in his hostel room on the institute’s campus on Thursday morning. Police said he died by suicide and have registered a case of unnatural death.
The student, identified as Rakshan, hailing from Chikkaballapura, was pursuing BTech in Mathematics and Computing and had been staying on the campus for the last two years.
According to IISc sources, the student was supposed to meet a counsellor three days ago, but did not attend the session.
The police are examining the handwritten note recovered from the student’s room and are verifying if he was under any academic stress or there were other reasons behind his death.
“The student died in the hostel inside the IISc campus. We feel sorry for the boy. He was quite good. We feel that he may have believed that he was not living up to expectations.
He was supposed to meet a counsellor three days back, but skipped it. We have a very good counselling system. We generally allow counselling facilities to students. It is compulsory. A suicide note recovered from the room has been handed over to the police,” said IISc sources.
No complaint of foul play in IISc BTech student death
Police have registered a case of unnatural death based on a complaint filed by Rakshan’s father, who is a businessman. The complainant has not levelled any allegations or suspected foul play behind his son’s death. The body was handed over to his parents after the postmortem on Thursday evening. Further investigations are on.
IISc statement
In a statement, IISc said, “We are deeply saddened to announce the death of an IISc BTech student by suicide on August 6. We express our heartfelt condolences to the student’s family and friends.
Our deepest sympathies are with them during this difficult time. We are committed to ensuring that the IISc campus is a safe and inclusive space for everyone.
We strongly urge all students, faculty members and staff to immediately reach out and seek help from the 24x7 emergency counselling service, online counselling facilities and consultations with counsellors and psychiatrists through the institute’s wellness centre.”
HELPLINE
If you are having suicidal thoughts, or are worried about a friend, or are in need of emotional support, call Sneha Foundation - 04424640050, Tele Manas - 14416 (available 24x7) or iCall, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences’ helpline - 02225521111, which is available Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 10 pm.