January 7, 2015
New Delhi: The 27-year old son of an IIT Delhi professor jumped from the 13th floor of a posh condominium in Gurgaon on Wednesday morning.
Dr. Surendra Prasad was living with his wife (who is also a DU college faculty member) and his son in a second floor flat at Parsvanath Exotica situated on DLF Golf Course in Gurgaon. When he woke up at about 7 am, he found that the main door of his flat was locked from outside and a duplicate key lying near it. He then noticed that the room of his son Sumedha was also locked and he was nowhere to be seen.
In his son’s room, Prasad found Sumedh’s suicide note which read “I could not prove to be good son. Let me go”. While he was reading the note, he heard a loud thud and rushed outside. Sumedh had jumped to his death from the 13th floor and was lying in a pool of blood. The condominium security guard informed police about the incident. The police have sent the body for the postmortem and the matter is under investigation.
Prof Surendra’s other son is working in the US.
While the exact reason of suicide of Sumedh is still not known, it comes as a shock that a well-grown adult in the family of achievers took such a drastic step. The suicide note indicates that Sumedh viewed himself as an ‘underachiever’, ‘a black sheep’ of the family. Perceived underachievement can cause much emotional discomfort and even physical problems in people.
Psychology studies indicate that even a highly productive person can perceive himself as an underachiever and feel frustrated when they are not able to perform up to the ‘ideal’ level set up by themselves, parents, or society in general.
Thinking rationally, proper planning and organization, and setting realistic and achievable goals are some of the important steps to conquer such feelings.
he might have been in family pressure like 3 idiots, How he realized that he is not a good son? proff might be taunting him that see one of your bro is settled in US what you are doing in india?
Dude, what purpose does it serve you conjuring up theories? Nobody asked you to solve the case Sherlock. I know the prof firsthand and he is one of the most amiable and politest humans I have ever seen. Never the taunting type. And he would never say that to his own son
oh! Thanks for the clarification 🙂
He was surrounded by achievers from his mother to his brother.. He must have felt a guilt of not worthy enough to be in a family this superior.. i had that feeling at one point of time.. its really soul killing… i coped somehow… he couldnt..
I personally know Prof. Surendra Prasad. He is a very polite and gentle person. Not somebody who’d taunt his kids and encourage them to try a career in literature, music or photography which Sumedh was doing. The reason for the drastic step is something different.