BITS Pilani Goa Sees Sixth Student Suicide in Two Years; Student Found Dead in Hostel

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20-year-old woman was found dead in her hostel room at the BITS Pilani campus in south Goa, marking the sixth student suicide reported at the institute in the past two years, police said Monday.The student, identified as Vishnavi Jitesh, a third-year engineering student, was found hanging from a ceiling fan with a bedsheet around her neck late Sunday night, a senior police official said. The Verna police station received a call around 11:30 PM reporting the incident, reports PTI. Police said Jitesh hailed from Bengaluru and was enrolled in the Electronics and Communications Engineering course. An investigation is underway. The institute had not issued a formal statement on the incident as of Monday afternoon.

The deaths of students at the Goa campus, located near Vasco, have drawn growing concern. The issue was raised during the recent winter session of the Goa legislative assembly, where Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said students had died by suicide due to pressure related to examinations.The latest death follows a series of similar incidents. In September 2025, a 20-year-old student, Rishi Nair, was found dead in his hostel room. Police later said traces of drugs were detected in his system, the first such finding among the recent cases.Speaking to reporters at the time, Sawant said senior police officers had confirmed the autopsy results. Superintendent of Police (South) Tikam Singh Verma said an investigation was underway and that strict vigilance was being maintained around educational institutions to curb the use of drugs, alcohol or banned substances.

Nair’s death was the fifth reported at the campus since December 2024. Earlier, students Om Priyan Singh (December 2024), Atharv Desai (March 2025), Krishna Kasera (May 2025) and Kushagra Jain (August 2025) were found dead in their hostel rooms.Verma had said that of the last five deaths reported on the campus, this is the first instance where traces of drugs were found.Following the September incident, leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party met police officials, raising concerns over the availability of drugs near educational institutions. AAP leaders questioned how such substances were reaching campuses and called for stronger action against peddlers.