A 30-year-old mess staff at the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Kurukshetra, died by suspected suicide on Monday, further intensifying concerns regarding the rising number of deaths at the premium institution.
According to police, the body of Kaushal, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Hardoi, was found hanging from a tree with a rope outside the mess area near Hostel number 4 during the early morning hours on Monday.
Kaushal worked as a cook in the hostel mess. This is the fifth reported suicide at the university in the past three months.
Earlier, four students had also allegedly died by suicide in separate incidents.
Upon discovering the body, fellow staff members informed the institute authorities and police.
Soon after reaching the spot, the police teams took the body into custody and sent for a postmortem, said ASI Vinod Kumar.
The ASI said that, according to Kaushal's family members, he was heavily addicted to alcohol.
He had remained absent from mess duty on Sunday after consuming excessive liquor.
His wife informed Kumar that he left home around 5 am on Monday, saying that he was going for duty, but later the family received the news of his death.
The latest incident has once again intensified concerns over the series of suicide cases at NIT Kurukshetra in the recent past.
Last month, the Haryana Human Rights Commission had initiated a detailed inquiry into the recent suicide incidents reported at the NIT, Kurukshetra.
The NIT had also constituted a five-member committee last month to investigate recent student suicide cases on campus.
(With inputs from PTI)
