Kanishk Bharti, a Dalit student of National Law School of India University in Bengaluru, reportedly committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling fan. His body was found on March 16. The police reckon that the body may have been hanging inside the room for three days.
According to The Times of India, Kanish's body was in a decomposed state and emanating foul smell.
The incident came to light only after Kanishk's parents called other students. According to the police sources, Kanishk's parents were calling him since March 14 but he did not respond. Kanishk hails from Uttar Pradesh and was pursuing an undergraduate course.
"When they approached room no. 3 on the third floor of the hostel, the students peeped through the window and saw Kanishk's body hanging from the fan. They reported the incident to management who later on called the police," an official said.
Kanish's father Veerendra Bharti has said that his son wasn't keeping well and was being treated at a hospital. He was also under a lot of stress because he wasn't faring well academically and had to repeat a year.
Serious questions are being raised as to how nobody at the hostel came to know about the student's death and why it took a phone call from his parents after several days to inquire about the student. The police said that they would question the management, hostel students and the faculty.
Student suicides at premier institutes continue unabated
Despite efforts put by the country's top colleges, especially IITs and IIMs, for addressing the problems on student stress and suicides, there has been apparently no relief. Last year, multiple student suicide incidents were reported from IIT- Guwahati, IIT-Kanpur and IIT- Madras.
A task force set up by the IIT council to look into the issue noted that recurrent images portrayed by the media for glorifying the education put the students under a lot of stress. It also entailed that the students who are already facing a fierce academic environment should be given enough time for leisure activities as well as socialising.
A probe by IIT Kanpur revealed that the problem of single room occupancy in the hostel rooms should be done away with. The IITs should also remove ceiling fans from hostel rooms and use pedestal fans.
