IIT Madras student found dead in hostel room, suicide suspected

Days after a student suicide rocked IIT Bombay campus, a post-graduate student at IIT Madras was found dead in his Chennai hostel on Tuesday morning.

Steven Sunny, a second year student from Maharashtra, was found hanging in his room, police said. He was pursuing Master of Science (MS) in electrical engineering at the IIT.

The incident came to light when a student noticed his conspicuous absence and intimated the hostel warden about it. The police said though it appears to be a case of suicide, they are investigating into it. The post-mortem examination is underway.

Though a hand-written note has been recovered from his room, the police could not decipher its content. They are now looking for clues in his laptop which is password protected. The Kotturpuram police have registered a case of unnatural death.

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Following the incident, IIT Madras, in a statement, said, “The institute endeavours and assures to improve and sustain the well-being of students, scholars and faculty on campus while constantly evaluating support systems in place.”

Meanwhile, in a separate incident, another IIT Madras student, hailing from Karnataka, also made a bid on his life by consuming some tablets. He has been rushed to hospital where he is undergoing treatment.

Earlier, an 18-year-old student at the IIT Bombay died apparently after jumping off the seventh floor of his hostel in Powai, Mumbai, on Sunday. He was forced to commit suicide due to bias against Scheduled Caste students, alleged a group of students. No suicide note was recovered and an accidental death case had been registered.