107 - 09th May 2011 - Yet another IIT suicide - Deccan Chronicle

Anxious parents do a balancing act between expectations 

and fear of losing their child to academic pressure

On Wednesday afternoon, Nitin Kumar Reddy, a final year mechanical engineering student from IIT, Madras committed suicide.

Nitin left a Facebook message on the wall that read: “I fought hard but lost.”

There is more to that final post than what meets the eye. It is not just Nitin.

In the past five months three students from the same institution (including V. Anoop from the same department) have ended their life. Faculty members and officials say that such incidents cannot be attributed to academic pressure alone, but call for immediate attention.

“This is a complex issue that needs to be addressed. No one can say it’s because of academic pressure. There could be several reasons,” says M. Govardhan, dean (students) at IIT-M.

Academicians and educationists feel that students are aware of the pressure they have to handle while they are at such an institution.

“It is a known fact that studying at IIT is no easy task. The students who are part of that institution are self-motivated and are aware of the academic expectations. Moreover, every student may be facing personal and cultural problems as well. The education system cannot be blamed,” says E. Balaguruswamy, former vice-chancellor of Anna University.

Nitin’s department-mates, appeared sad yet strangely indifferent. Maybe because of their exams. They say it’s all about the survival of the fittest.

“It’s exam time and all of us are trying to perform well. We come here to clear the course and such incidents are unfortunate. While some students work with a clear-cut timetable, some may lose their confidence mid-way,” says a second year mechanical engineering student on condition of anonymity.

“I have never felt the pressure of studying at IIT. But it is the survival of the fittest. Entering this prestigious institution is a task on its own. But students have to be responsible and not lose hope,” says a first year M-Tech student.

Nitin’s life changed course when he approached the head of the department to learn that his course needed to be extended by six months. About this incident, the HOD said that the department was still in shock.

“We are all very upset because of this incident. If we lose a student, it’s traumatic but nothing can be done about it,” says S.P. Venkateshan, HoD. of mechanical department, who informed Nitin that he wouldn’t be graduating in May along with his batch mates. “He visited my office twice and that’s when I interacted with him,” says Venkateshan.

Counselling could to an extent help students manage the stress and pressure. Asked if the system is in place at IIT-M, Govardhan says: “We have recently appointed a qualified, fulltime counsellor who is extremely helpful. Students are allowed to approach the department with their problems. Once in a while, the dean of HoDs also interacts with the students so as to make sure they’re comfortable.”

Reasons may be many and yet to be identified, but the frequency at which students commit suicide is alarming and worth an investigation.

105 - 6th May 2011 - Day after suicide at IIT-M, blame game on- TOI

A Selvaraj and Ishan Srivastava May 6, 2011, 12.51am IST
 

CHENNAI: Nitin Kumar Reddy's friends were still in shock a day after his suicide. His father Lakshmanamurthy, in his police complaint against the IIT-M administration and his son's project guide, has said that his son called him in his mobile on Wednesday afternoon before he died. He sounded depressed. Lakshmanamurthy pacified his son over the phone and assured that he will visit him in Chennai and talk to his guide and professors about the problem.

Lakshmanamurthy said in his complaint that he informed his relative Sudhakar Reddy who was also the local guardian of his son. He asked Sudhakar Reddy to go see his son. But it was already too late. Nitin's hostel warden, professor Sathyanarayanan, called Lakshmanamurthy and asked him to rush to Chennai at once. Fearing the worst, Lakshmanamurthy rushed to Delhi airport when Sudhakar Reddy called him and said Nitin was dead. ( IIT student commits suicide on campus )

Lakshmanamurthy has said that the IIT-M administration and Nitin's guide PV Manivannan should have informed him and his son earlier about the delay in filing the project. He said that Nitin had been told suddenly at the very end that his project would be extended.

Based on the complaint, the police have registered a case under Section 174 (unnatural death) of Criminal Procedure Code. "We will pursue and alter the case after detailed interrogation," a police officer said.

Meanwhile, the family members and the relatives of the victim Nitin Kumar Reddy staged a protest at Government Hospital in Royapettah demanding action against the IIT-M officials. But they were pacified by police personnel.

Nitin's body was handed over to his parents after an autopsy, who took it to Kuthalapattu near Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh.

When asked as to what the Institute in general and Guidance and Counselling Unit (GCU) in particular was doing to address the situation and to improve the response against such incidents, dean of students Govardhan M said, "Why are you always reporting negative news about IIT Madras? We also have the maximum number of patents but you didn't report that. But you would want to report the death of 3 out of 5000 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?"

He went on to say, "Do you know the student who died yesterday had a medical history of psychological problems from childhood? But obviously you don't want to investigate." But he quickly corrected the "childhood" part to say, "We have come to know from his friends that when he could not clear JEE in an attempt, he went into depression."

104 - 6th May 2011 - IIT-Madras student Nitin Kumar Reddy's suicide is statistically insignificant, says dean Govardhan

Friday, 6th May 2011

Here is perhaps a scene straight from 3 idiots. An insensitive administration at IIT-Madras allegedly drove a student Nitin Kumar Reddy to suicide. Nitin's father has even lodged a police complaint against Nitin's guide and the tragic incident is now under investigation.

When a Times of India reporter spoke to dean Govardhan M, the man had the gall to say that the death of 3 out of 5000 students was not statistically important. His comments in full:

"Why are you always reporting negative news about IIT Madras? We also have the maximum number of patents but you didn't report that. But you would want to report the death of 3 out of 5000 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?"

Then he blames Nitin's death on his mental status.

"Do you know the student who died yesterday had a medical history of psychological problems from childhood? But obviously you don't want to investigate."

The learned dean went to add, according to Times of India: "We have come to know from his friends that when he could not clear JEE in an attempt, he went into depression."


Publication : Times of India

103 - 5th May 2011 - IIT - Madras student commits suicide due to depression in academic course

Thursday , 5th May 2011 09:50:13 PM

A 24-year-old engineering student of Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) allegedly committed suicide because of "depression due to extension of his academic course" at Guindy on Wednesday.

L Nitin Kumar Reddy, a native of Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh, enrolled himself for a dual degree in mechanical engineering at the Institute in 2007, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Guindy) S Senthil Kumaran told Express.

Nitin was scheduled to pass out in May 2011, but was given an extension of six months because of arrears.

Nitin was suffering from depression due to the extension, the officer said.

Around 2 pm, a hostel student Pawan received a call from Nitin's friend in Andhra Pradesh, asking him to check the victim’s room (No. 463) on the third floor at Jamuna Hostel on the IIT campus.

On forcibly opening the door, Pawan found that Nitin had hanged himself from the ceiling fan, the ACP said.

On information, the Velachery police recovered the student's body and sent it to the Government Royapettah Hospital for autopsy.

Before his death, Nitin sent an email to his father Lakshman Murthy Reddy, who is director of the Defence Research and Development Organisation wing in New Delhi. His mother Shylaja was an Andhra Pradesh government employee, the official said.

Nitin left a Facebook message for his friends, saying "I fought hard and lost."

IIT Dean (students) Govardhan told Express that Nitin had a history of depression. "According to the feedback I received, Nitin was someone who was either happy or highly-depressed when he faced setbacks. He had a medical history of the same," Govardhan said.

Police are questioning the faculty and staff.

71 - 15th March 2010 - IIT-M student dies - The Hindu

Monday, Mar 15, 2010

City Bureau
CHENNAI: A student of the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras died on Sunday, despite efforts by his friends to get medical intervention.

G. Ragavendra (20), studying third year B.Tech. chemical engineering and belonging to Hyderabad, complained of chest pain hours after his birthday party on Saturday evening at Godhavari Hostel, according to police.

His friends rushed him to the health post on the premises.

As his pain worsened, doctors advised the students to shift him to a better equipped healthcare facility. The institute's ambulance was requested.

But, Ragavendra died before the vehicle arrived, the police said.

The Velachery police arranged for Ragavendra's body to be moved to Government Royapettah Hospital (GRH) for autopsy.

However, staff at the hospital could not conduct the post-mortem as there was no forensic science expert.

The students were asked to take the body to the Government Kilpauk Hospital (KMC).

The autopsy was done at the KMC on Sunday evening and the body sent to Hyderabad.

Meanwhile, students of IIT-Madras have made a representation to the faculty that a delay of 20 minutes in the arrival of the ambulance stationed inside the institute had resulted in the death of the student, the police said.

IIT-Madras Dean (Students) M. Govardhan said, “There was a small delay… much less than 20 minutes in the arrival of the ambulance. Incidents of such nature are rare at IIT-Madras, so the driver of the vehicle was not prepared.”

The State's Director of Medical Education, S. Vinayagam, said the body had to be shifted from the GRH to the KMC as in a teaching medical institution autopsies should be performed only under the supervision of a forensic science expert. Arrangements were being made to rectify the shortfall of forensic science experts in GRH, he added.

(With inputs from

R. Sujatha, Petlee Peter and Ajai Sreevatsan)