He had plans of going abroad for further research. He was in the fifth year of his programme, and eager to graduate. The family belongs to a small town in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, and Kumar was researching microfluidics. “The PhD guide’s inhuman behaviour is directly responsible for Sachin’s decision to take his own life,” Jain said in the letter. He said Kumar hung himself after a meeting with the guide earlier in the day. He also claimed that Kumar had informed them that there will be a delay in him getting his degree since the guide had “overloaded him with work”. “After this, Sachin was visibly disturbed,” Jain wrote in the letter in Hindi. In his letter, Jain, who works for a private firm, alleged that Kumar was barred from entering the research lab after the IIT-Roorkee incident, and was tasked with completing his lab mate’s research as well. He also told us that Sachin seemed to be under mental duress,” Jain said to ThePrint over the phone. “In a video call with my mother and I in December, the guide mentioned his plan to take disciplinary action against Sachin. He said the guide had informed the family of the same in December. Jain alleged in his letter that Kumar was reprimanded by his PhD guide for leaving for a conference at IIT-Roorkee along with his lab mate 2 days prior to schedule, and was about to initiate disciplinary action against him. “A standing Institute Internal Inquiry Committee, including elected student representatives, which has been recently constituted, will look into such incidents.”Īlso read: Kalakshetra alum says teacher ‘rebuffed’ him when told he faced sexual harassment by staffer “The institute has been endeavouring to improve and sustain the well-being of the students/scholars, faculty and staff on campus, while constantly evaluating the various support systems in place,” it said. In a statement released last month, IIT-Madras said the post-Covid era has been challenging. “There’s a mental health emergency on campus, and the college isn’t doing enough to address it,” the committee said. Representatives of the Joint Action Committee on Mental Health, an ad-hoc committee formed by concerned students, expressed disgruntlement with the way the college was dealing with student suicide on campus. A note that said, “don’t prosecute”, was recovered from the room. A month before that, 24-year-old PhD student Stephen Sunny was allegedly found hanging from the ceiling of his room. Vaipu Pushpak Sree Sai, a third-year B-Tech student, allegedly died by suicide. Kumar’s is the third student suicide reported from IIT-Madras within a span of one-and-a-half months. This report will be updated once they do. It is very irritating,” Vasa said, directing ThePrint to the institute’s communication team, which said they will “flag it to the institute and get back”. ThePrint reached dean of students Neelesh J.V.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |