Another IITian commits suicide; at IIT Madras this time

 New Delhi: 23-year old M Narendra Kumar Reddy was a second-year M.Tech student at IIT Madras. Reddy belonged to a village in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh – and was studying on a sponsorship offered by a private construction firm at Manapakkam. Just last week, he had gone to his native village for the Vinayagar Chathurthi festival and had returned to the institute on Monday.

When he did not come out of his room – even for lunch and dinner, his friends peeped into his room through the window and found that he had hanged himself from the ceiling.

The police were informed immediately. IIT Madras Director Bhaskar Ramamurthi has issued a statement offering condolences to the family of the student. It states that the institute is cooperating with the police in the investigation of the case.

The reason of the suicide is not known yet. Just like the IIT Guwahati student who jumped to his death less than a week ago, no suicide note has been found in this case too.

Suicides in IIT have been becoming media highlights time and again. From September 2014 to September 2015, IIT Guwahati alone has lost three students. IIT Bombay too has seen two deaths and an attempted suicide in less than a year – forcing its management to take steps to help students who seem to be depressed.

IIT-B has hired two full-time counsellors and a third one on a contractual basis. Families of ‘stressed’ students have also been allowed to stay with them for a few days to offer them support.