Kanpur: All reports submitted by the
committees constituted by IIT-Kanpur to determine the reasons
that led eight of its students to commit suicide in the last
five years have cited "personal reasons" as the cause.
Details of what the personal reasons are have, however,
not been divulged by the authorities who maintain that they
are not of the nature that can be disclosed to the media.
A Fact Finding Report into the death of BTech student in
civil engineering Madhuri Sale submitted yesterday states that
her suicide on November 17 last year was because of "reasons
which were entirely personal."
Sources in the institution said that Sale was in love
with one of her classmates and disappointment in the
relationship may have led her to take the extreme step, a
claim that IIT authorities have not commented upon.
IIT officials have said that her "file has been closed"
as a report has been submitted.
An RTI application by a PTI journalist revealed that in
the years from 2005 to 2010, two girl students and six boy
students had committed suicide at the institute.
In the five years, five students committed suicide in
their hostel rooms by hanging from ceiling fans, one jumped
from the roof of the faculty building in the campus, another
jumped in front of a moving train and a third consumed poison.
The reports investigating the causes for all eight
suicides have cited personal reasons.
The Fact Finding Committees constituted have also made
suggestions to help prevent students from committing suicides,
some of which are already in place at the institution.
Recommendations made by the report on Sale`s suicide
include more interaction among students to share their
problems, strengthening of the counselling cell, appointment
of counsellors in hostels and separate women counsellor for
girl students and a counsellor for boy students as well.
"Most of the steps suggested by the Fact Finding
Committees to stop the tendency of suicide among students are
already present in the institution," IIT-K Registrar Sanjeev
Kashalkar told PTI, adding that the institution has separate
counsellors for boy and girl students.
However, the committee`s suggestion for more interaction
among the students is different and will be looked into, he
said.
The Fact Finding Committees set up after student suicides
in the institution have been headed by senior professors who
sent the report to administration officials after which
efforts are made to stop such incidences from recurring.
PTI
