25-Year-Old PhD Scholar Dies By Suicide At IIT Kanpur, 2nd Incident Within A Month

In a tragic incident, a 25-year-old PhD scholar at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-K) died after allegedly jumping from the sixth floor of a campus residential building on Tuesday afternoon.

The incident comes close on the heels of another student's death on campus.The deceased was identified as Ramswroop Ishram, a research scholar in the Department of Earth Sciences, the police said, adding that he had been residing in a room of the New SBRA Building along with his wife Manju and their three-year-old daughter. Ishram hailed from Churu district in Rajasthan.Kalyanpur police along with forensic experts reached the spot soon after receiving information and collected evidence. Ishram was rushed to a private hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead. The body has been sent for post-mortem examination, and further legal proceedings are underway.

Student Was Suffering From Depression, Anxiety

Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) SM Qasim Abidi told news agency PTI that preliminary investigation indicates that the student had been suffering from depression and anxiety for a prolonged period. He had undergone counselling on several occasions. The police are questioning the deceased's wife as part of the investigation, DCP said.Expressing grief over the incident, IIT-K Director Manindra Agarwal told PTI that the institute had lost a promising researcher."With profound grief, IIT-K mourns the tragic and untimely demise of Ramswroop Ishram, a PhD scholar in the Department of Earth Sciences. He joined the Institute in July 2023. The Institute condoles his demise and prays for strength to the bereaved family," Agarwal added.

2nd Suicide at IIT Kanpur Within a Month

The tragic incident comes on the heels of another student's death on campus. Earlier on December 29, Jai Singh Meena (26), a final-year BTech student enrolled in the Biological Sciences and Bioengineering programme, was found dead in his hostel room.A note reading "Sorry Everyone" was recovered from his room in E-Block, Hostel No. 2, police had said. Meena was also a native of Ajmer, Rajasthan.

Girl Found Hanging in Defunct Kanpur College

In a separate incident, a nine-year-old girl was found hanging inside a classroom of a defunct degree college in Kanpur's Ghatampur area. The girl was found hanging on Monday from a ceiling fan of a classroom of Baba Baijnath Degree College, which has been closed since 2016, with a television set switched on in the room. The incident came to light after the college watchman alerted the police. Ghatampur police and a forensic team rushed to the spot and collected evidence, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime and Headquarters) Vinod Kumar Singh said. The body was sent for a post-mortem to ascertain the exact cause of death, he added.The police said Vaishnavi had been living on the abandoned college premises with her grandmother, Mamata, who has been missing since the incident.(With inputs from PTI)