A 21-year-old Dalit student of B.Tech final year at the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi died by suicide on 1 September, Friday.
The student was identified as Anil Kumar.
“Another SC student was found dead in Vindyachal hostel at IIT-Delhi today,” read a statement by The Ambedkar Phule Periyar Student Circle (APPSC).
“You can theorise on our deaths as much, and our experience but it is us who put our academics and mental health on toll every day as people, young students from our community pass away,” the APPSC said.
It is the second incident of suicide on IIT-Delhi campus in last two months. On July 10, a tribal student named Ayush Ashna, who was pursuing B.Tech (Maths), died after a suicide bid.
According to the police, the student was on extension as he failed to clear some exams. “On verification of facts, it was revealed that the deceased was pursuing B.Tech in Mathematics and Computing (session 2019-2023). He was on extension as he did not complete some subjects and was residing in hostel on six months’ extension,” The Hindu quotes a senior police official involved in the investigation as saying.
“How many more Aniket, Darshan, Ayush and Anil?? Why are IITs becoming graveyards for students from marginalized communities. Both IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi have SC ST cells, yet both fail to implement reservation or protect the students,” read a social media post by IIT Bombay’s APPSC.
It went on to say: “RTI data shows that there was not a single SC ST faculty in the departments where they studied. Even after the calls of Mission mode recruitment, IITs deliberately violated reservation norms to ensure that these institutes remain out of reach for Dalit Bahujan Adivasis.”
