IIT student Nitin Kumar Reddy
Days after an M Tech student committed suicide on the campus of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Madras, its dean attacked media for reporting the incident. Following the authorities' "irresponsible" response, the victim's father has demanded an inquiry into the incident and said he would soon approach the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in this regard.
In his response to the incident, the dean of the institute, Govardhan M., reportedly said: "Why are you always reporting negative news about IIT Madras? We also have the maximum number of patents but you did not report that. But you would want to report the death of three out of 5,000 students, which is statistically not important. Why don't you go to other engineering institutes and find out how many died there. Why only IIT?"
Twenty-four-year-old Nitin Kumar Reddy had allegedly committed suicide in his hostel room on May 4. Minutes before he hanged himself, the mechanical engineering student had written an e-mail to his parents asking for forgiveness after he was told that he would not be able to graduate in May with the rest of his batchmates.
The dean's "insensitivity" outraged the grieving parents of the student. They demanded an apology from the institute.
Nitin's father Lakhsmana Moorthy Reddy, who works with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in Delhi, filed an FIR on his son's suicide calling for a probe. He said his son had died under mysterious circumstances.
"I want an inquiry into the incident. If found responsible, the professor should be suspended. I have lost my son but I do not want incidents like these to recur. I will soon approach the NHRC in this regard," Nitin's father said.
