BENGALURU: A 34-year-old PhD student of IISc ended his life by suicide at his room in the campus on Tuesday. He left no suicide note and based on a complaint by college authorities, a case of unnatural death has been registered. Preliminary investigations revealed that he was under depression.
A senior police officer from Sadashivanagar police station said that the deceased Ranadeer Kumar hailed from Bihar and was a final year student. He was studying nano technology and was living in the campus premises for a few years. He was supposed to submit his PhD thesis this year to complete the course.
A senior police officer said Kumar's family and friends were trying to reach him over phone since Monday evening and he did not answer the calls. On Tuesday afternoon, they went his room to check and found his body hanging. The security officials called the police and alerted them about the incident. The body was shifted for postmortem and handed over to the family on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, reacting to the incident, the registrar of IISc said in the press release, "We are extremely saddened to report the deaths of two students on the campus. Kumar was pursuing his PhD in the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering. We strongly urge IISc community members to reach out to and seek help from the following facilities and wellness resources: 24 x 7 emergency call service for anyone needing to talk to a mental health professional (Phone number: 080-47113444) and online counselling and support via YourDost platform."
Meanwhile, another student, pursuing his M Tech from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, collapsed and was found unresponsive while playing football at the Gymkhana ground. The student, identified as Rahul, hailed from Mathura in Uttar Pradesh. After receiving first aid treatment at the IISc Health Centre, he was immediately taken to MS Ramaiah Hospital where he was declared dead. The student's parents as well as the police were informed of the demise.
(If you are having thoughts of suicide or are in emotional distress, help is available. You can get in touch with the SAHAI helpline at 080-25497777, open from Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 10 pm and 104 Arogya Sahayavani which is available 24/7.)