On January 18, another shocking incident was reported from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur where a 29-year-old PhD research scholar was found dead in her dorm room. Notably, this is the third suspected suicide case emerging from the institute in the previous five weeks. The deceased, namely Priyanka Jaiswal, was enrolled in the chemical engineering department’s PhD program and had only joined the institute 20 days prior to her death.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Abhishek Pandey reportedly stated that the IIT administration called the police as soon as possible to report the occurrence, as reported by Hindustan Times. The police team further provided that the circumstances behind Jaiswal’s death are being looked into by a forensic team. The team also stated that possible reasons behind Jaiswal’s suicide will only be revealed after a preliminary probe and completing other formalities.
The tragic news came to light after the father of the research scholar reached out to the hostel manager, Ritu Pandey, after being worried about his daughter’s lack of response since Wednesday. When they arrived at her room, Priyanka was hanging and her door was locked from the inside.
APPSC, Ambedkar Periyar Phule study circle, a student collective of IIT Bombay took to ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) to shed light on this issue. In his post, the collective wrote “Students protesting at IIT Kanpur following the 3 recent suicides in one month, raising issues of incompetence of redressal mechanisms, representation, and demanding accountability from the administration”.
The post can be viewed here:
Students protesting at @IITKanpur following the 3 recent suicides in one month, raising issues of incompetence of redressal mechanisms, representation, and demanding accountability from the administration @voxiitk #studentsunity #nomoreinstitutionalmurders pic.twitter.com/KNQHTEsM2t
— APPSC IIT Bombay (@AppscIITb) January 19, 2024
Official Statement from IIT Kanpur
An official statement was released by IIT Kanpur as the news of the suicide broke out, expressing deep sorrow over the loss. The institute mourned the “untimely and unfortunate demise” of the student and stated that institute had lost a bright and promising young student. The statement is as follows: “With profound grief, IIT Kanpur mourns the untimely and unfortunate demise of a PhD student, Ms. Priyanka Jaiswal, who joined the Department of Chemical Engineering of the Institute last month, which is December 2023. The Institute is awaiting the police investigation to determine the likely cause of the death. With Ms. Priyanka’s passing away, the Institute lost a bright and promising young student.”
Previous two incidents of suicides in the past 5 weeks:
The unfortunate incident comes after two student suicides on campus in the previous five weeks. On January 11, M. Tech second-year student Vikas Kumar Meena (aged 31) allegedly hanged himself from the ceiling fan in his IIT, Kanpur hostel room, reportedly after he was “temporarily” barred from continuing with his course.
Prior to this, on December 19, postdoctoral researcher in the biosciences and bioengineering department Pallavi Chilka (aged 34) hanged herself from the ceiling fan of her second-floor hostel room on the campus.
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