New Delhi [India], August 26 : Congress leader Pawan Khera on Wednesday demanded an independent investigation into the recent death by suicide of IIT Delhi student Rishikesh Kumar and called for a comprehensive probe into student suicides across the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) over the past five years.
In a post on X, Khera said that around 70 IIT students have died by suicide in the last five years and alleged that the government has failed to take serious action on the issue.
https://x.com/Pawankhera/status/2092503973064511562?s=20
"Education System or Guillotine? 70 IIT students have died by suicide over the last five years. Yet, serious action from this government has been shockingly absent. There must not only be an independent investigation into the recent death by suicide of IIT Delhi student Rishikesh Kumar, but also a comprehensive investigation into the suicides of IIT students over the past five years. These are among the brightest young minds in India. The government has a responsibility to determine whether these tragedies are isolated incidents or symptoms of a deeper, systemic crisis," Khera wrote on X.
The remarks came after the 31-year-old IIT Delhi MSc Physics student Rishikesh Kumar died on August 22 after falling from the sixth floor of the Lecture Hall Complex (LHC) at IIT Delhi. Police have said that no suicide note was recovered and that the circumstances surrounding his death are being investigated.
Meanwhile, former Uttarakhand DGP Ashok Kumar, who was proposed as the chairperson of the committee constituted by IIT Delhi to probe the student's death, has recused himself from the panel, citing prior commitments, sources at IIT Delhi confirmed to ANI.
The committee was announced early on Tuesday morning by IIT Delhi Director Prof Rangan Banerjee through an email to students.
The proposed five-member External Inquiry Committee included former Uttarakhand DGP and IIT Delhi alumnus Ashok Kumar, AIIMS New Delhi psychiatry department head Prof Pratap Sharma, two student representatives and the institute's Registrar, who was to serve as secretary and convenor.
"The chair of the committee has recused himself from the panel, citing prior commitments," a source in the IIT told ANI.
Some protesting students had also objected to the proposed composition of the committee and demanded that it be headed by a former High Court judge.