28-Yr-Old IIT Kanpur Student Died By Suicide Due To Academic Pressure By Supervisor, Alleges Friend

Kanpur: A 28-year-old PhD student of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur allegedly died by suicide on October 10, Thursday. She was found hanging in hall 4 of the institute where she resided. 

The deceased student, Pragati Kharya was studying Earth Sciences from the institute and was a resident of Kanpur’s Sangiawan. She completed her MSc from Bundelkhand University in Jhansi and her BSc from Hansraj College at Delhi University.

Her roommates alerted the administrators of the institute about the incident, who then called the police. 

IIT Kanpur issued an official statement expressing its sympathies for Kharya's unfortunate and unexpected demise. The announcement said that in December 2021, Kharya had enrolled in the PhD program, reported PTI. 

The report further mentioned that when the police arrived at the institute, Kharya’s hostel room was locked from inside. The police then broke the door and found her hanging from the ceiling. The police has also discovered a suicide note from her room. 

A friend of Kharya from her batch who chose to remain anonymous informed FPJ that Kharya did not show any signs of depression and that the incident came as a shocker to all of her friends. 

“She was a very happy girl in general and was also a very bright student. It came as a shocker to us when we heard about her,” he said. “However, she was facing academic pressure because of her supervisor,” he further added, stating that another student under the same supervisor had allegedly left the institute on September 16 because of academic pressure. 

He informed that he went to her house to pay last respects and that the condition of Kharya’s parents was in a terrible state. “They were inconsolable and were not in a condition to speak anything. Her brother was questioning the faulty system of IIT and especially IIT Kanpur where this is the fourth suicide case this year,” he said.

Fourth suicide at IIT Kanpur

This is the fourth case of suicide at IIT Kanpur. Priyanka Jaiswal, a 29-year-old PhD candidate studying chemical engineering, died by suicide on January 18 inside her hostel room.

A week prior, on January 11, 31-year-old Vikas Kumar Meena, an M.Tech second-year student at IIT Kanpur, was discovered hanging from the ceiling fan in his dorm room after he was allegedly "temporarily" suspended from the course.

Furthermore, on December 19, Pallavi Chilka, a 34-year-old postdoctoral researcher, was found hanging from the ceiling fan in her hostel room.