CHENNAI: A 20-year-old undergraduate student of IIT Madras allegedly killed himself in his hostel room inside the campus on Friday. This is the fourth suicide in the last 75 days.
The deceased was identified as Kedar Suresh, a native of Maharashtra who was a second-year undergraduate in the Chemical Engineering Department in the institution. He was staying in a hostel room inside the campus, said the police.
"On Friday, Suresh's roommates left for class in the morning while Suresh stayed back. By afternoon, his friends noticed his absence and reached the hostel room. They found the room locked from the inside and after several knocks, there was no response," said a senior police officer.
The students informed the management and broke open the door. They found Kedar Suresh lying dead and the ambulance crew confirmed his demise, said the police. The Kotturpuram police registered a case and sent the body to the Royapettah Government Hospital for post-mortem.
ALSO READ | PhD student of IIT Madras kills self
The IIT Madras management issued a statement expressing condolences to the student.
It can be remembered that on March 31, a 31-year-old doctorate student Sachin Kumar Jain killed himself at his residence in Velachery. On March 14, a 20-year-old B.Tech student at IIT-Madras died by suicide in his hostel room on the campus. The deceased was identified as V Vaipu Pushpak Sree Sai from Andhra Pradesh.
On February 14, an MS Research Scholar from Maharashtra, Stephen Sunny killed himself in his room, while another student was admitted to the hospital in critical condition after attempting suicide.
The ambulance crew confirmed the death, said the police. Kotturpuram police registered a case and sent the body to the Royapettah Government Hospital for post-mortem. The IIT Madras management issued a statement expressing condolences. Copycat behavior is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. “This is called weather phenomenon or cluster.
To prevent suicides, we should analyse why it has happened and tell people who are suicidal or depressed that there are other ways to deal with it. Identify people who are suicidal, acknowledge the issue, and suicides can be prevented, “ said Dr Lakshmi Vijaykumar, Founder, SNEHA.
(Assistance for those having suicidal thoughts is available in TamilNadu’s health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050)
(If in distress or having suicidal thoughts, call 104 for health department’s helpline or 044-24640050 for Sneha suicide helpline.)