Students flag ‘toxic environment’ after third on-campus death in IIT Guwahati

Guwahati: Following the massive protest after a third-year B.Tech student’s body was found hanging in the IIT Guwahati hostel room, the students on Tuesday claimed that the ‘toxic environment’ created in the premier institution in the name of academic excellence led to his death.

“Despite getting a good mark in the examination, many students failed due to short attendance. In our batch, at least 200 students failed due to low attendance,” said a protesting student.

He added that one or two students might have done something wrong but such a huge number can not be found on the wrong foot.

“The IIT Guwahati administration has created a toxic environment in the name of academic excellence,” he said.

Another student claimed that the third-year B.Tech student, who was found dead in the hostel, was subject to extreme pressure after he failed in more than one subject.

“He was a bright student. He even successfully completed the internship, but the administration made him fail on some papers citing poor attendance. This caused him to lose his life,” the student added.

On Monday, a massive protest erupted at the IIT Guwahati after the dead body of a student was found hanging in the hostel room.

The deceased, a 21-year-old from Uttar Pradesh, was pursuing the Computer Science and Engineering programme of the premier institution.

Hundreds of students demonstrated in front of the administration building, claiming that academic pressure was the cause of their fellow student's suicide.

“This is the third death now. We want the directors and deans to meet with us and resolve our issues,” a student said.

Monday’s suicide was the third case of student suicide which occurred on the campus this year.

On August 9, the body of a 23-year-old M. Tech student at the institute was discovered in her dorm room. She was a native of Uttar Pradesh.

A 20-year-old Bihar BTech student was also found dead in his hostel room in April of this year; the death was thought to be a suicide.