CHENNAI: A 20-year-old student from Andhra Pradesh pursuing B Tech at IIT-Madras allegedly died by suicide in his hostel room on Tuesday. The deceased, V Vaipu Pushpak Sree Sai, was pursuing third year in electrical engineering.
According to the police, Sree Sai was staying in the Alaknanda hostel on campus. On Tuesday Sree Sai did not turn up for class. Around 11.30 am, his friends reached his room to check on him. “The door was locked from inside following which the students broke open the door to find Sree Sai dead,” a senior police officer said.
The Kotturpuram police registered a case and sent the body to the government hospital in Royapettah for post-mortem. No suicide note was recovered from Sree Sai’s hostel room, the police said.
Meanwhile, in a statement over Sree Sai’s death, IIT-Madras stated that it has been a challenging environment post the Covid-19 pandemic.
“A standing institute internal inquiry committee including elected student representatives, which has been constituted recently, will look into such incidents,” the management added. It may be recalled that a research scholar from Maharashtra, Stephen Sunny, allegedly took his life in his hostel room at IIT-Madras on February 13.
(Assistance for those with suicidal thoughts is available on the state health department’s helpline 104 and on Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline at 044-24640050.)