JNUSU stages protest outside IIT Delhi over MSc student’s death

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

The protesting students blamed “institutional apathy”, saying this was the second student death at IIT Delhi this year. They urged the institute to address what they described as “a far longer pattern of student deaths that it has failed to confront”. | Photo Credit: PTI

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) on Sunday organised a protest outside the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi demanding accountability from the institute a day after a 31-year-old second-year MSc student allegedly died by suicide on campus.

The protesting students blamed “institutional apathy”, saying this was the second student death at IIT Delhi this year. They urged the institute to address what they described as “a far longer pattern of student deaths that it has failed to confront”.

JNUSU president Aditi said: “We demand the implementation of the Rohith Act so that students who enter institutes as bright young minds are not suddenly told that they are not meritorious enough and have to deal with pressure from the administration. It is not just IIT Delhi. We will raise our voices across campuses.”

The All India Students’ Association also issued a statement demanding a probe into the death.

The statement read: “We demand an independent inquiry into this death and the pattern of suicides at IIT Delhi; full transparency on counselling infrastructure and its actual accessibility to students; a review of the discretionary power supervisors hold over students’ academic futures; and an end to the administration’s practice of shielding itself from media scrutiny and accountability.”

After the incident, IIT Delhi issued a release stating: “The institute deeply mourns the tragic and untimely demise of an MSc student on August 22. The Delhi police are investigating the incident. Our deepest thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved family. The institute is providing all support to them.”

The students alleged that the institute’s response to such incidents followed a familiar script. “Reduce every death to individual mental illness, issue a condolence e-mail, and move on — while the structural conditions that produce this suffering go unexamined,” a student said.

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.