IITs and real-life tragedies of ‘Joy Lobos’

An internal survey by an IIT student organisation reveals that a whopping 61 per cent of students say that academic stress is one of the main factors for taking such an extreme step.

Rancho, Farhan, and Raju fly the drone near the hostel room window only to find that Joy Lobo, who wanted to make the unmanned aerial vehicle mounted with wireless cameras, has hanged himself from the ceiling fan. Viru Sahasrabuddhe, the director of the engineering college, had dismissed his project as ‘impractical’ and turned down his request for more time to make the drone. Joy could not take the pressure and ended his life, writing on the wall of his room: “I quit”.

The heart-wrenching scene in the 2009 blockbuster 3 Idiots, which had Amir Khan in the lead role, is not far from reality. India’s premier tech schools are often hit by the real-life versions of the tragedy that Rajkumar Hirani wove into the coming-of-age comedy-drama.

Take the case of Bimlesh Kumar, a third-year B Tech (Computer Science and Engineering) student at the Indian Institute of Technology in Guwahati. His body was found hanging from the ceiling fan of his hostel room on September 9. The police investigation suggested that he had died by suicide although his family at Balia in Uttar Pradesh remained clueless about why he had taken the extreme step. His death triggered a protest by students. One of the protesters said on condition of anonymity that Bimlesh had not been keeping well and, as a result, his attendance had dropped below 75 per cent and that was why the 21-year-old had not been allowed to register for the placement interview scheduled to take place next month.

Bimlesh’s was the third suicide at the IIT Guwahati. Soumya, a second-year M Tech student, also ended her life last month. The 24-year-old too had received a job offer after a successful internship, but it had been allegedly revoked due to low attendance. The back-to-back incidents prompted students to demand a 10 per cent to 15 per cent relaxation in the attendance criteria.

The series of suicides in IIT Guwahati in 2024 started with Sourabh Kumar, 20, a First-Year B Tech student, who had taken the extreme step on April 10.

Not only the IIT Guwahati but two students of the IIT Kanpur also died by suicide this year. So did one each in IIT Roorkee, IIT (BHU) Varanasi, IIT Kharagpur, and IIT Delhi.

The year 2024, which saw nine suicides on the IIT campuses in nine months, is not an exception though. The data obtained by Dheeraj Singh, the founder of the Global IIT Alumni Support Group, through RTI queries revealed that the IITs had witnessed 127 suicides between 2005 and 2024.

With 26 cases, IIT Madras recorded the highest number of suicides in 19 years, followed by the IIT Kanpur with 18 cases, IIT Kharagpur with 14, IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi with 10 each, and IIT Guwahati with 13.

According to the response to the RTI query filed by another activist Dr Vivek Pandey, one student of IIT Dharwad died by suicide in 2020-21.

The Union Ministry of Education early last year informed Parliament that at least 33 student suicides were reported from IITs in the period between January 2018 to March 2023.

A whopping 61 per cent of IIT students believe that academic stress is one of the main factors leading some of them towards such extreme steps, while 12 per cent held employment insecurity responsible, 10 per cent had family issues and 6 per cent complained of harassment, according to a survey.

“Student suicides in IITs is a serious problem. Earlier we used to get news of the suicide of an IIT student in four months, now it is like once every month. To arrest this trend, other than encouraging peer mentorship, academic freedom is most important so that academic stress is minimised,” Singh, an alumnus of the IIT Kanpur, said.

“Internal committees which inquire into deaths often give clean chits to themselves. If a child has been performing poorly, they blame his academic credentials, if the child is doing well academically, they put the blame squarely on relationship issues. The same playbook inquiry procedure repeats across all IITs. The government should set up a centralised commission of inquiry comprising independent experts comprising psychiatrists, psychologists, legal people, social activists, and police to probe past suicide incidents. No IIT directors or professors should be on the commission. It is important to fix accountability in the IIT system and recommend remedial steps to the IIT Council to prevent the emerging mental health crisis in the premier institutes,” said Singh.

Varad Sanjay Nerkar, a second-year M Tech student of IIT Delhi, died by suicide on February 15 this year. His parents pointed fingers at his guide. Ayush Asna, a fourth-year B Tech student, had taken the extreme step on July 14, 2023. Anil Kumar, who had an economically disadvantaged background, had done so on August 31, 2023. Both had belonged to the Scheduled Castes.

The response to another RTI query by Singh revealed that no FIR had been lodged in at least eight cases of suicides although inquest proceedings had been conducted in each case.

However, the Supreme Court on September 20, 2024, issued notices on a plea filed by the parents of both Ayush and Anil asking for registration of the FIR and independent investigation into the deaths by a central agency.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had probed the suicide of Fathima Latheef, a 19-year-old student of the IIT Madras, after she died by suicide in Kerala in 2019. Her family had alleged that she had taken the extreme step due to harassment she had faced from professors at the institute. However, the institute had denied the claims of the parents and an investigation by the Chennai Police had also concluded that she had died by suicide due to homesickness and stress, not due to any harassment. The case had been referred to the CBI at the request of the girl’s parents and the central agency too had ruled out harassment.

Sachin Kumar Jain, 32, a PhD student at IIT Madras, ended his life on March 23, 2023. His PhD supervisor Prof Ashish Sen was suspended after an inquiry committee found him responsible for the death of the Jain.

The psychologists blame the suicides on the campuses of the tech schools on factors like high societal expectations for academic excellence, inability to cope with the punishing schedule and rigorous syllabus, little or hardly any personal connection with family, friends, and even faculty members, and poor outreach by on-campus counsellors. “Performance pressure, ego, bullying, and casteist slurs often lead to mental health issues amongst students when they fail to measure up to high-performance standards. The mind may not be strong enough to handle failure, but this weakness is invisible. Nobody notices it and it aggravates,” said psychologist Satish Kaushik, who runs an NGO, Rajbala Foundation, which works in the education sector. “Academic stress is one of the factors. But a culmination of other factors like family issues, social isolation, and being genetically anxiety-prone, make students take the extreme step. Relationship issues and job insecurity issues plague the senior students. Mental health awareness camps, 24X7 availability of counsellors, teachers, buddy system all should be part of a supportive system.”

Seena Mary Thankachan, a research associate at Pune International Centre, who analysed the reasons behind the suicides, said: “The competitive environment fosters self-isolation, making academic success seem more attainable but often at the cost of mental well-being.”

The IITs have woken up to the problem. IIT Guwahati, for example, set up a task force to reach out to every student and provide the necessary support, prioritized starting dedicated counselling services at the hostel level and strengthened the faculty advisory system to ensure students receive timely academic guidance and support.

“By prioritising student well-being and implementing these comprehensive measures, we aim to prevent future tragedies and ensure the success of our students,” Devendra Jalihal, the director of the IIT Guwahati, told DH. “We are committed to creating a safe and supportive environment for all students,” he added.

“The IIT Guwahati is deeply saddened by the recent loss of student lives on our campus. The institute has conducted a thorough investigation into each of these cases and has identified several factors contributing to these tragic events. While many of these incidents were non-academic in nature, they underscore the urgent need for enhanced support systems and preventative measures to safeguard the well-being of our students,” said Jalihal.

IIT Madras, which witnessed 26 suicides between 2005 and 2024, appointed former Tamil Nadu DGP G Thilakavathi as the student ombudsman.

Preventive measures needed

But most actions are knee-jerk, often taken after a suicide has been committed. “There is a time gap between one suicide and the next when another student was thinking of taking such an extreme step. The measures should be preventive, rather than being after-reactions. The cycle should start early during admissions, even conducting a psychological autopsy which assesses the mental well-being of a student of whether he or any of his family members has been taking any psychological help,” said Singh. “It is like screening each child at the entry point and identifying the high-risk ones early. And faculty should also be trained to identify the depressive ones.”

“If a student is skipping classes, seems cut off from the rest of his friends, and not taking food, then it is too much to expect the child to go for counselling himself. He or she would barely have the energy to seek help. There should be an outreach programme that should include community workers, psychologists, and clinical psychiatrists who would be visiting the hostels, and the common areas and monitoring early signs. The system should be more adaptive and supportive rather than rigorous. Till now there is no system to take care of students’ grievances,” said Singh.

“A flexible curriculum, continuous assessment methods, and structured support for managing backlogs can go a long way to reduce academic stress. For those who come from economically and socially marginalised backgrounds, and who often face discrimination, support groups are essential. And cultural sensitivity training should be made mandatory for all with strict anti-discriminatory policies on the campus,” added Seena Mary.

Many IIT students alleged that the counselling centres were not working properly. IIT Madras’s wellness centre was dissolved in December 2023 after students demanded confidentiality and no faculty involvement.

After the low attendance of Bimlesh and Soumya put their career in peril and led them to the brink, the IIT Guwahati students demanded 10 per cent-15 per cent relaxation. The students also demanded sensitisation of all the faculty members from time-to-time on the problems and stress they go through during their courses. "The administration had made several promises following the protests, but nothing has been done even after more than two weeks. The IITG is also not allowing the media to follow up on the case. It seems they are not willing for course correction to prevent similar incidents. Some students are still experiencing difficulties with below 75 per cent attendance. The attendance norms have not been relaxed despite our demand," a student told DH.

IIT Guwahati authorities, however, refrained from commenting on the demand of the students for relaxation of the attendance norms.

The death of Darshan Solanki, a first-year student of IIT Bombay, on February 12 last year was blamed on caste discrimination. The Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle (APPSC) of IIT-Bombay alleged that he died by suicide after experiencing caste discrimination. Solanki (18) was a first-year B Tech student. An accidental death report was filed, and police launched the investigation. The Mumbai police formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT). The police arrested fellow student Arman Khatri for abetting the suicide. He was later released on bail. The police filed a charge sheet under Sections 306 (abetment to suicide) and 506(2) (threat) of the Indian Penal Code, and Sections 3(2) (V), 3(2) (Va) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The case is under trial now.

The incident prompted Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan to ask the IITs to adopt a policy of zero tolerance for any kind of discrimination.

IIT-Kanpur had been shaken by three suicides by students in two months between December 2023 and January 2024. In December 2023, a research scholar from Odisha, Pallavi, had died by suicide. In January 2024, two students, Priyanka Jaiswal, a resident of Dumka in Jharkhand, and Vikas Meena, a resident of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, died by suicide.

According to reports, IIT-Kanpur brought in a ‘no-termination’ policy in a bid to prevent the students from taking the extreme step. It was also reported that very few students approached the in-house counselling centre at the institute. Attempts to elicit a response from the IIT-K proved unsuccessful as the Dean of Academic Affairs, Dr Shalabh, deflected the queries in this regard to the media cell and the latter did not reply to the mail sent by DH.

The family members of Vikas Meena, however, blamed the IIT-K for his suicide. ‘’The Institute did not inform us about the termination of my son...Had we been informed in time we could have prevented the suicide,’’ Vikas Meena’s father Nemchandra Meena, a retired RMS employee, said. He said that Vikas slipped into depression after his termination.