The partially decomposed body of a third year student of IIT Kharagpur was found in his hostel room after the authorities broke open the bolted door, an official of the premier Institute said on Saturday.
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This is the second instance of death of an IIT student in a week. A 20-year old fifth year B.Tech student of IIT Guwahati died by suicide and his body was found hanging in his room on October 10.
IIT Kharagpur registrar Tamal Nath told PTI that the putrefying body of Fainaz Ahmed was found after door of his hostel room was forcibly opened on Friday as there was no communication from him for hours.
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No foul play was suspected as of now and the authorities are looking into the circumstances behind the death of the 23-year-old student, another IIT Kharagpur official said.
Fainaz, a third year student of mechanical engineering, was last seen on October 13, his friends said.
He hailed from Assam’s Tinsukia district. He had a brilliant academic record and had performed well in exams, Mr. Nath said. His parents alleged that he was killed and demanded a full-fledged inquiry by police into the incident.
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“Our son who was so jovial during the family event, cannot kill himself. He was murdered. We demand that a proper inquiry be held into the events leading to his death and how he died,” his mother told a Bengali TV channel.
The registrar said, “We are at a loss as to why such a thing happened. He had returned from his home only a few days ago after a family function and he was a senior”.
The institute has a number of trained personnel as well as from two NGOs to provide counselling if anyone is depressed, Mr. Nath said.
“For the past two years due to COVID-19 curbs and lockdown, we have given more stress on counselling to students to address any crisis if we get the slightest hint of any symptom,” he added.
Those in distress or having suicidal tendencies could seek help and counselling by calling any of the numbers in this link.