Rishikesh Kumar, 31, an MSc Physics student at IIT Delhi, died on August 22 after falling from the sixth floor of the Lecture Hall Complex. Delhi Police has registered a case and is investigating the circumstances of his death. IIT Delhi has constituted an external inquiry committee headed by retired Delhi High Court judge Justice Mukta Gupta to examine the circumstances surrounding the death and the functioning of the institutional mechanisms concerned.
The wider question is not simply what happened to one student, but how institutions respond when illness or personal difficulty disrupts a student’s education — and whether the systems meant to support that student work together.
TIMELINE
2018–2023: Government data recorded 98 student deaths across specified central higher educational institutions during this period: 39 from IITs, 25 from NITs, 25 from central universities, four from IIMs, three from IISERs and two from IIITs.
March 24, 2025: In Amit Kumar & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors., the Supreme Court took note of recurring student deaths and factors including ragging, academic pressure, caste-based discrimination and sexual harassment. It constituted a National Task Force to examine student mental health and recommend measures.
January 2026: The Supreme Court reiterated the task force’s mandate to identify causes, examine shortcomings in existing institutional frameworks and recommend preventive, remedial and reform measures.
August 22, 2026: Rishikesh Kumar died after falling from the sixth floor of IIT Delhi’s Lecture Hall Complex. Police began investigating the circumstances of his death.
August 2026: IIT Delhi reconstituted its external inquiry committee, with retired Delhi High Court judge Justice Mukta Gupta as chairperson. Students subsequently paused their on-campus mobilisation pending the inquiry.
Is this a unique instance at IIT Delhi in recent times?
Not in the broader sense of student deaths, but the available data do not establish a campus-wise pattern that would allow this case to be described as either unique or part of a defined sequence.
Protesting students said Kumar was the eighth student to die at IIT Delhi in about 30 months. That figure has not been independently established and should therefore not be presented as a confirmed statistic.
Nationally, however, student deaths at IITs are not an isolated phenomenon. Government data recorded 39 IIT students among the 98 students who died across specified central higher educational institutions between 2018 and 2023. The figures do not provide a campus-wise breakdown, nor do they establish the reasons behind individual deaths.
Why did the students protest on the campus?
The protests began after Kumar’s death, with students demanding an independent inquiry, accountability for alleged institutional lapses, and scrutiny of the handling of student welfare, mental-health support, hostel accommodation and academic issues.
IIT Delhi subsequently reconstituted its external inquiry committee, with retired Delhi High Court judge Justice Mukta Gupta as chairperson. Students later paused their on-campus mobilisation, citing progress on their demands.
Did the students allege that Rishikesh was affected by the treatment he received?
Students and Kumar’s family have alleged that he faced difficulties relating to hostel accommodation, medical clearance and obtaining an academic project needed to complete his degree. These are allegations, not findings.
IIT Delhi’s account differs in important respects. It says Kumar’s requests for withdrawal from the January-May and July-November semesters were approved, his case was reviewed in July, and he received medical and counselling support.
The inquiry must establish what decisions were taken, what was communicated to Kumar and how the different institutional systems responded to his needs.
What do we know about Rishikesh’s difficulties?
Kumar joined IIT Delhi in July 2025 and lived in a hostel. After Holi in 2026, he was hospitalised for about a month. His withdrawal from the January-May semester was approved.
His case was reviewed in July, following which he was advised to remain under parental supervision. He subsequently received counselling, and his request for withdrawal from the July-November semester was also approved.
Students and family members have raised questions about what happened thereafter, including his accommodation and academic requirements. Those questions remain subject to the inquiry.
Did students object to IIT Delhi’s description of the student’s condition?
Yes. Students questioned whether describing the next step as “parental supervision” adequately addressed the needs of a student trying to return to academic life after treatment.
IIT Delhi has said the advice followed a review involving its counsellor and psychiatrist.
The larger issue is how medical advice, mental-health care, academic participation, accommodation and student autonomy were coordinated.
Why can an academic problem become an administrative one?
Because a student who loses academic time to illness may have to navigate several systems simultaneously: semester withdrawal, medical clearance, hostel accommodation, project allocation, examinations and grievance redressal.
IIT Delhi says Kumar’s withdrawals were approved and that he received support. Students have questioned what happened with accommodation and academic requirements after those approvals.
The issue is therefore not simply whether a rule existed, but whether the rules provided a workable route back into academic life.
What does available data tell us about student deaths and academic stress?
Government data recorded 98 student deaths across specified central higher educational institutions between 2018 and 2023. Of these, 39 were from IITs, 25 from NITs, 25 from central universities, four from IIMs, three from IISERs and two from IIITs.
Beyond deaths, a study of 8,542 college students across 30 universities in nine Indian states found that 18.8% had considered ending their lives at some point, 12.4% had done so in the preceding year and 6.7% reported having made an attempt.
The study also found substantial levels of depression and anxiety among respondents.
Table 1: Student fatalities in Central Higher Educational Institutions (2018-2023)
Total student deaths in central HEIs: 98
Deaths in IITs: 39
Deaths in NITs: 25
Deaths in Central universities: 25
Deaths in IIMs: 4
Deaths in IISERs: 3
Deaths in IIITs: 2
Should academic rules be relaxed?
Evidence does not support blanket relaxation of academic standards.
The more useful question is whether institutions have clear, predictable procedures for students whose education is disrupted by illness, disability or bereavement.
In Kumar’s case, IIT Delhi says his semester withdrawals were approved. The unresolved question is whether the arrangements surrounding his return — including accommodation and academic requirements — were sufficiently clear and workable.
Is academic pressure the only issue?
No.
Research points to multiple contributors to student distress, including depression, family and relationship pressures, social disconnection, financial insecurity and academic stress.
The nine-state college study found significant levels of thoughts of ending one’s life, attempts, depression and anxiety. Other research among Indian medical students has also identified family, relationship and academic factors as relevant to such distress.
These findings describe broader risk factors; they do not establish the cause of Kumar’s death.
Why does hostel accommodation matter?
For residential students, accommodation is not merely a logistical issue. It is part of the academic and social environment in which they study and receive institutional support.
Students and family members have alleged that Kumar faced difficulty obtaining accommodation after treatment. IIT Delhi says he was living off campus.
The inquiry must establish what rules applied, what requests were made and what decisions were taken.
Can counselling solve these problems?
Counselling is important, but it cannot by itself resolve every academic or administrative difficulty.
A counsellor cannot allocate a hostel room, provide a required academic project or alter an academic procedure.
Mental-health support therefore needs to operate alongside practical assistance with accommodation, academics, finances and grievances.
What has the Supreme Court said about student deaths?
In Amit Kumar & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors., decided on March 24, 2025, the Supreme Court described recurring student deaths as reflecting inadequacies in existing legal and institutional frameworks. It constituted a National Task Force to address mental-health concerns and recommend measures for higher educational institutions.
The task force was asked to examine possible contributors including ragging, caste- and gender-based discrimination, sexual harassment, academic pressure, financial burden and mental-health stigma, among other factors.
It was also asked to examine institutional mechanisms for academic, financial and mental-health support and recommend reforms.
What is the central question about seeking help?
Not simply whether counselling exists, but what happens after a student seeks help.
A student may simultaneously need treatment, accommodation, academic assistance, financial support, supervision and grievance redressal.
IIT Delhi says Kumar received support and obtained semester withdrawals. Students have questioned how the different systems functioned thereafter.
The inquiry can establish whether those systems worked together.
Can seeking help for anxiety create other problems?
Students allege that difficulties associated with Kumar’s mental-health condition were followed by problems relating to accommodation and academics.
IIT Delhi, meanwhile, points to medical review, counselling, parental supervision and approved semester withdrawals.
The inquiry will need to distinguish between the student’s medical needs, the institution’s response and any causal connection between the two.
Do all students experience the same academic setback in the same way?
No.
Social, economic and institutional circumstances can shape how a student experiences an academic setback.
The Supreme Court’s task force was specifically asked to consider discrimination and the needs of marginalised communities. Its mandate includes caste- and gender-based discrimination, ethnicity, tribal identity, disability and other forms of exclusion.
Research has also documented experiences of discrimination and alienation among marginalised students. These findings are relevant to higher education generally; they do not establish a connection with Kumar’s case.
What do the caste-related figures show?
The Education Ministry told Parliament in December 2023 that 13,626 students from SC, ST and OBC communities had discontinued studies across central universities, IITs and IIMs over the preceding five years.
In IITs, the figures were:
• OBC students: 2,066
• SC students: 1,068
• ST students: 408
“Discontinued” should not be read as equivalent to expulsion. The government data include multiple reasons for leaving and do not provide individual explanations for each case.
Nor do the figures provide denominators, so they cannot by themselves be used to compare discontinuation rates between social groups.
Is caste discrimination established as the cause of student deaths?
No.
Independent research documents caste-based exclusion and its psychological consequences among marginalised students, but this does not establish caste discrimination as the cause of any particular student’s death.
The Supreme Court’s task force has been asked to examine caste-based discrimination as one among several possible contributors to student distress and deaths.
What does the Supreme Court case say about caste allegations?
The Amit Kumar case arose from complaints concerning two earlier IIT Delhi deaths — Ayush Ashna and Anil Kumar.
Their families alleged, among other things, caste discrimination involving the two Scheduled Caste students.
These were allegations, not judicial findings that caste discrimination caused their deaths.
The Supreme Court considered caste-based discrimination among a wider range of factors to be examined by the National Task Force.
How can money affect an academic crisis?
Financial strain can compound an academic setback when it results in additional semesters, lost income, fees or living costs.
Research among Indian PhD students has also found associations between financial hardship and mental-health difficulties.
Such research indicates a broader vulnerability; it does not establish that financial circumstances played a role in Kumar’s case.
Does this mean students are not resilient?
No.
Student distress should not be reduced to a failure of individual resilience.
Research points instead to the importance of protective factors and social support. The more useful institutional question is what happens when an individual’s coping mechanisms are overwhelmed — whether supervisors, hostels, financial assistance, mental-health services and grievance mechanisms are available and coordinated.
What can be concluded from the information available?
Student distress is a significant concern in India.
A large nine-state study found that 18.8% of respondents had considered ending their lives at some point, 12.4% had done so in the preceding year and 6.7% reported having made an attempt. Government data also show that student deaths have occurred repeatedly across central higher educational institutions, with IITs accounting for the largest number in the 2018–2023 data.
But none of these figures establishes the cause of Kumar’s death.
What they do is sharpen the questions the IIT Delhi inquiry must address:
Can a student withdraw without losing institutional support?
Is there a clear route back after illness?
Can accommodation, medical care, academic requirements and supervision be coordinated?
Can a student challenge an institutional decision without jeopardising their education?
Those are questions that can be answered through records, communications and testimony during the inquiry.
The central question is therefore not whether the problem lies “inside the student” or “inside the institution”.
It is whether an institution can recognise a struggling student, support them without creating new barriers, and provide a workable route back into academic life.
That is what the IIT Delhi inquiry must now examine.
