IIT Madras Student Found Dead Days After Suspected Suicide In IIT Bombay

A post-graduate student at IIT Madras was found dead in his Chennai hostel this morning, two days after a similar incident of suspected suicide rocked the IIT Bombay campus, police said.

Steven Sunny, a second year student from Maharashtra, was found hanging in his room, they added. He was pursuing Master of Science (MS) in electrical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.

The police are yet to ascertain the cause behind his death. A hand-written note has been recovered from him but the police are yet to decipher its content.

"It appears to be a case of suicide. We are investigating. His post-mortem is underway," an official from the Kotturpuram police station told NDTV. "We couldn't understand what's written in the note. We are trying to look for possible clues or evidence in his laptop which is password protected," he added.

IIT Madras, in a statement, said it is "constantly evaluating support systems in place".

"The institute endeavours and assures to improve and sustain the well-being of students, scholars and faculty on campus while constantly evaluating support systems in place," it said.

On Sunday, an 18-year-old student at the IIT Bombay died apparently after jumping off the seventh floor of his hostel in Powai, Mumbai. He was driven to suicide due to discrimination against Scheduled Caste students, alleged a group of students.

No suicide note was recovered and an accidental death case has been registered.