Kolkata, May 4 (UNI) The body of a student at IIT Kharagpur was found hanging in his room on Sunday morning under mysterious circumstances, marking the third unnatural death of a promising student at the institute in just four months.
The deceased, identified as Mohammed Asif Qamar, a third-year Civil Engineering student, was discovered in Room No 135 of the SDS Block in Madan Mohan Malviya Hall.
According to police, Qamar’s room had been locked since Saturday evening. When the fellow students received no response despite repeated calls, they alerted the campus authorities, who then informed the police.
Around 3:30 am, police from the Hijli outpost within the IIT campus broke open the door and found Asif’s body hanging inside the room.
“We broke open the door and entered the room to find him hanging from the ceiling. He was taken to Kharagpur Sub-Divisional Hospital, where doctors declared him dead,” a senior police officer said.
“The investigation is underway, and we have sent the body for autopsy. Once the report comes in, we will be able to determine the exact cause of death,” he added.
Sources in the police said Qamar, who hails from Garahiya village in the Sheohar district of Bihar, was supposed to go home on Sunday.
“Qamar had packed his belongings and was preparing to go home for a vacation. He was supposed to leave for his village on Sunday morning only. We really cannot understand what happened in-between that he had to end his life,” a fellow student said.
Qamar’s death marks the third fatality at IIT Kharagpur in the past four months, triggering shock and concern among both students and institute's authorities.
In an effort to understand the reasons behind the recent death of a student, the institute has already initiated the process of forming a committee to investigate the factors contributing to the recent “unnatural death” of an undergraduate student in a hostel, along with similar incidents in the past.
IIT announced the measures just days after the mother and brother of Aniket Walkar, a deceased student, wrote to the authorities requesting an independent investigation by an expert committee into the circumstances surrounding his death.
Aniket, a student of Ocean Engineering and Naval Architecture from Maharashtra’s Gondia district, was found hanging in his room at the J C Bose Hall of Residence on April 20.
The terms of reference and composition of the panel are expected to be announced within the next two to three days. The committee will assess the existing institutional support systems and the overall environment for hostel residents in light of the recent tragedies and recommend any necessary measures.
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