PhD Scholar Found Dead At IIT Kanpur, Fourth Suspected Suicide In A Year

The police officials said that the suicide note was recovered from the room and she held no one responsible for her extreme step.

A 28-year-old PhD student at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur ended her life by hanging herself from the ceiling hook on Thursday, the fourth such case in the last one year.

The student, identified as Pragati Kharya, was a resident of Sanigawan in Kanpur and was pursuing a PhD in Earth Sciences. She died by suicide inside her hostel room during the intervening night, but the matter came to light on Thursday noon, police said.

The student's hostel mates informed the IIT-K authorities who in turn alerted the police.

IIT Kanpur, in a statement, said that Kharya had joined the PhD program in December 2021 and called the incident 'tragic'.

"With profound grief it mourns the tragic and untimely demise of Kharya. Kharya joined the PhD program in December 2021," the statement said.

"A police forensic team has visited the campus to investigate the circumstances of the death. The Institute is awaiting the results of the police investigation to determine the cause. With Pragati Kharya's passing, the institute has lost a promising young researcher. The institute extends its deepest condolences and prays for strength and comfort to her family and friends in this time of great loss," the IIT said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Rajesh Kumar Singh said that the police received information about a suicide by a PhD student at around 12 pm on Thursday. 

Assistant CP (Kalyanpur) Abhishek Pandey said that upon getting the information, a team of police rushed there and found the door of Pragati's room locked from inside.   

After breaking open the door, the woman's body was found hanging from the ceiling fan. The police said a forensic team was called to collect the forensic evidences.

The police officials said that the suicide note was recovered from the room and she held no one responsible for her extreme step. A mobile phone was also recovered from the hostel room that might help police in solving the mystery behind the suicide, the ACP said. The body was sent to the mortuary for post-mortem. 

Earlier in January, 29-year-old PhD student, Priyanka Jaiswal, who was pursuing a PhD in Chemical engineering had allegedly committed suicide inside her hostel room after being locked from inside.

On January 11, M-Tech second-year student Vikas Kumar Meena (31) allegedly hanged himself from the ceiling fan in his IIT, Kanpur hostel room, reportedly after he was temporarily barred from continuing with his course. On December 19, postdoctoral researcher Pallavi Chilka (34) hanged herself from the ceiling fan of her second-floor hostel room on the campus.

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