IIT-Roorkee Student Found Dead In Hostel, Police Suspect Suicide

A 19-year-old student of IIT-Roorkee was found dead in the institute's hostel on Wednesday, police said, adding that they suspect it to be a case of suicide. 

The body of the student, who hailed from Nagaur district in Rajasthan, was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his room at Jawahar Bhawan, one of the men's hostels of the institute.

The student was pursuing a BS-MS (Mathematics and Computing) Program at the institute, and was in his fifth semester.

According to the police, a preliminary probe revealed that the student was reportedly upset over securing less marks in the semester examinations. The student's friends and classmates said he appeared depressed and gradually stopped communicating with others, police added. 

The teen's friends and classmates said he was last seen roaming in the hostel at 2am on Wednesday.

The body has been sent for post mortem and a detailed probe is underway, police said.

In a statement, IIT-Roorkee said the "heartbreaking event has deeply impacted the entire IIT Roorkee community". "The institute is cooperating fully with the authorities as the police investigate the circumstances surrounding this incident," it said.

Earlier in February, a 20-year-old BTech third year student from Hyderabad alleged died by suicide in her hostel room at IIT-Roorkee. Police said a suicide note purportedly written by her said no one was responsible for her death.

In October, a 21-year-old IIT Delhi student allegedly died by suicide in his hostel room. Police said no suicide note was found in the room but the student from Jharkhand's Deoghar was under psychiatric treatment and had visited the IIT Hospital a day before he took the extreme step.