24-Year-Old IIT-Kanpur PhD Student Dies By Suicide In Hostel Room

A 24-year-old PhD scholar at IIT Kanpur died by suicide in his hostel room. Police found a suicide note, but the reasons behind the incident are still under investigation.

A 24-year-old PhD scholar, Ankit Yadav, died by suicide in his hostel room. (Representative AI Image)

Source : ABPLIVE AI

A 24-year-old PhD scholar at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur ended his life by hanging himself from the ceiling of his hostel room on Monday, police said.

As per the details, the deceased was identified as Ankit Yadav. He was a resident of Noida and was pursuing a PhD in Chemistry.

The matter came into light in the evening when Ankit's friends called him, however, it went unanswered. This was then Ankit's friends informed the IIT-Kanpur authorities, who in turn alerted the police and rushed to the room.

Additional DCP (west) Vijendra Dwivedi said, "We received information about the suicide around 5 pm after which we along with local police arrived there. By the time police reached there, the IIT-Kanpur authorities had already taken out the body after breaking open the door and shot a video of it as evidence", news agency PTI reported. The police have initiated an investigation and a forensic team was called to collect evidence.

A suicide note was also found in the room in which Ankit stated that he took the extreme step of his own will and blamed nobody for it. However, the exact reasons behind the suicide will only be revealed after a preliminary probe, Additional DCP Dwivedi said. He added that the body has been sent for post-mortem and the family members have also arrived at the institute.

Expressing its condolences over the incident, the institute, in its statement said, "IIT-K mourns the tragic and untimely demise of Ankit Yadav, a PhD scholar in the Department of Chemistry, here today. Yadav was a promising research scholar who joined the institute in July 2024, with an UGC Fellowship." The reason for the drastic step is uncertain at this stage, however, IIT-K is actively cooperating with the police and forensic team in the ongoing investigation, it said and added that the institute is committed to taking all necessary steps to prevent such unfortunate incidents.

Last month, a student of IIT-Kharagpur was found dead inside his hostel room. The deceased Shaon Malik, a third-year student of Electrical Engineering, was found hanging inside the room by his parents who had come to meet him.