325 - Campus dealt a death blow - Asian Age

Campus dealt a death blow

May 04, 2015 | Age Correspondent

Sharman Joshi in a still from 3 Idiots, a film that addressed student suicides

Student suicide has been a burning issue and counsellors believe that there needs to be greater awareness about depression itself

Jitesh Sharma, a student of IIT-Bombay, was found dead on the terrace of a hostel on the campus on Saturday evening. The 21-year-old chemical engineering student was reportedly suffering from depression. News reports further suggested that he was unhappy with his academic choices; and he even indicated in his suicide note that he was depressed. This is the second case in the campus in less than a year. In September last year, Aniket Ambhore, jumped to death from the sixth-floor balcony of a hostel on the campus.

Student suicide has been a burning issue and counsellors and psychiatrists believe that there needs to be greater awareness about depression itself. Often, displacement and the need to constantly prove themselves creates turmoil. The issues could range from a burn out, homesickness or students thinking that they are not in the right place or the right field.

Prachi Chitre, counselor at Institute of Psychological Health, observes, “Students often find themselves in a continuous battle of constantly having to prove themselves to their family, friends, and faculty. They want to live up to others’ expectations and make sure that nobody thinks that they got into the institution just by chance. Also, when students come from smaller cities to study in a big city like Mumbai, they experience a culture shock and cultural differences may become a matter of conflict between them and their peers. They may find it difficult to fit in and hence, may experience isolation and loneliness. This in turn gives rise to an inferiority complex. All this just becomes a fatal mix.”

The IIT-Bombay campus currently houses 8,000 students with an active counseling cell, with a clinical psychologist and a full-time counselor; round the year workshops on stress-management and even an IIT-B care health page on Facebook. 

However, these initiatives seem to fall short. Psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty says, “I’m not putting the blame on IIT-Bombay but more such projects need to be undertaken by the college. 

With at least 8,000 students on campus, they probably need to put in more efforts.” Paras Sharma, programme coordinator for the pan-India psycho-social counselling helpline iCALL, says, “Students often shy away from seeking help because they are worried that someone may come to know about it, or their parents would come to know about it. Even calling a suicide-prevention helpline is still a struggle. People should be made more aware of this issue.”

Rashmi Uday Kumar, public relations officer for IIT-Bombay also admits that while measures have been taken, a lot still needs to be done. She says, “We do have a counseling centre and training counselors visiting the campus. We also have an IIT B-Care health page where we have been getting good response. Since it is voluntary, not everyone has shown interest in these sessions. It is unfortunate that the boy decided to end his life. He wasn’t doing well in studies but he was improving academically, and that is what makes it more shocking.”

Savita Pawar, parent to a 23-year-old, explains that maybe open communication between a parent and a child coupled with no burden of expectations would help understand the child’s aspirations. She says, “As parents, maybe we need to put ourselves in their shoes and judge things from their perspective.”

Symptoms of depression

The person in question could be irritable or even casually talking about death

They could spend a lot more time sleeping

They also develop a tendency to avoid people

They display a general lack of enthusiasm in everyday activities

It is also important to pay attention to what they are saying.

A person who is at a risk of committing suicide generally tries to communicate that he/she needs help. Therefore, warning signs should never be ignored.

(Inputs by Dr. Harish Shetty and Prachi Chitre)

A report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in September 2014 states:

India’s suicide rate was 21.1 per 1,00,000 people, according to the report.

India accounted for the highest estimated number of suicides overall in 2012.

Over 800,000 people commit suicide every year and it is the second leading cause of death in 15-29 year olds globally.
Source: Preventing suicide:
A global imperative; www.who.int

321 - DEPRESSED IIT-B STUDENT COMMITS SUICIDE - Mumbai Mirror

DEPRESSED IIT-B STUDENT COMMITS SUICIDE

Mumbai Mirror | May 4, 2015, 08.18 AM IST

By Arita Sarkar and Ankita Bhatkhande

A 21-year-old student of IIT Bombay in Powai, Jitesh Vijay Sharma, committed suicide on the terrace of one of the institute's hostel buildings on Saturday evening. A third year student of chemical engineering, Sharma left a suicide note in his room stating that he was under depression.

Prima-facie investigations by the Powai police revealed that Sharma had consumed a poisonous chemical called sodium azide and some bottles of chemicals were found at the spot, which the police have sent to the forensics. 

The police found Sharma's suicide note in his room written in Hindi, wherein Sharma had mentioned that he was soon to be placed in a good company but was worried about scoring less in his exams. The note also stated that Sharma is taking this step of his own will, the police said. 

While Sharma's classmates said he was academically weak and had backlogs in a few subjects, IIT officials said that he was suffering from depression and was seeking psychiatric help from the IIT counsellor, Amita Tagare. " His parents knew about his condition and the counsellor had told them to visit their son more often. He did show improvement in his academics," said an IIT official. 

Though Sharma was a resident of Hostel 8, his body was found on the terrace of hostel 15 by a first year computer engineering student around 6:30 pm on Saturday. His body was then taken to the hospital in the institute premises where he was declared dead on arrival. "The body was later taken to Rajawadi hospital in Ghatkopar for post mortem," said a fourth year chemical engineering student on condition of anonymity. 

Sharma's classmates described him as "a quiet and an introvert guy who hardly hung out with his classmates or partied". 

The IIT Placement cell confirmed that he was the Associate placement coordinator at the institute and was also the coordinator of the E-Cell of the college. Students from Sharma's hostel stated that Sharma was supposed to leave for Rohtak, his hometown, on Saturday. 

IIT PRO Rashmi Uday Kumar said that the institute was shocked about the incident. "The student was academically weak, but was showing improvement. The institute's administration will have an internal deliberation on what can be done to prevent such an incident in future," Kumar said. 

Sharma's body was handed over to his businessman father and his uncle.The police said the body will then be taken to his house in Rohtak, Haryana.The police are now investigating the CCTV footage of both Sharma's as well the hostel where he consumed poison. 

IIT-Bombay had strengthened its counselling facilities after a similar incident occurred in September last year. A fifth year student Aniket Ambhore, who was also suffering from depression, fell to death from the sixth floor of one of the hostels. 

Apart from a new Facebook page for online counselling, the institute has also started a new counselling office to ensure privacy of the students seeking help from IIT counsellors.

319 - Mumbai: Chemical engg student at IIT-B kills self with poison - Mid Day

Mumbai: Chemical engg student at IIT-B kills self with poison

By Sailee Dhayalkar |Posted 04-May-2015

 156 129 2 0 0

The 21-year-old, a third-year student, allegedly committed suicide on Saturday by consuming sodium azide; a suicide note found in his room said he was depressed and regretted his choice of stream at the prestigious institute

IIT-Bombay was witness to yet another suicide when a third-year student of the Chemical Engineering cohort allegedly killed himself by consuming poison on Saturday. According to the institute, the students was struggling academically and a suicide note found in his room states the student was depressed and regretted coming to IIT.

According to the public relations officer at IIT-Bombay, the deceased student was struggling academically. 

File pic

The deceased was identified as Jitesh Sharma (21), originally a resident of Rohtak in Haryana. According to the police, Sharma allegedly killed himself by drinking a chemical called sodium azide, and was found dead on the terrace of hostel number 15, which is half a kilometre away from hostel 8, where Sharma used to stay.

A fellow student found Sharma near the terrace lift between 6.30 pm and 7 pm on Saturday. When he was unable to wake Sharma up, he informed the institute authorities and Sharma was taken to the campus hospital, where he was declared dead. The police were also informed.

Depressed
A suicide note written in Hindi was also found from Sharma’s room. Rajeev Chauhan, police inspector, Powai police station, said, “The suicide note said he was depressed, as he was not doing well in studies. (It said) He regretted his choice of academic course (at IIT).”

Sharma is said to have been a quiet boy and not very social, and was also undergoing counselling with the campus psychiatrist for the past one year, said a police officer.

According to fellow students, he was supposed to leave for Rohtak on Friday, but had to cancel his trip at the eleventh hour. Sharma was also struggling to cope with studies at IIT-Bombay, but was putting in efforts, another student added. “He had barely managed to pass the previous few semesters and only recently had he started coping. It’s really sad that he took academics so seriously that he took his life for the same,” said a student.

Sharma’s body was sent to Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar for a post-mortem. His father, a businessman in Rohtak, flew down to the city along with a relative to take its custody and left yesterday.

Police have also recovered the bottle which had the chemical that Sharma allegedly drank, and are investigating as to how he procured the substance. They are also looking at CCTV footage for further leads.

Officialspeak
Confirming the incident, Rashmi Uday Kumar, public relations officer, IIT-Bombay, told mid-day, “He’s a resident of hostel number 8 and when another student went to the terrace of building number 15 for a walk, he found Jitesh unconscious. There were many bottles of soft drinks lying around and there was froth coming from his mouth, and this student immediately contacted the officials at the institute.” She added that Sharma, originally from Rohtak, was a third-year Chemical Engineering student and wasn’t doing very well academically.
— Inputs by Shreya Bhandary

- See more at: http://www.mid-day.com/articles/mumbai-student-found-dead-in-iit-bombay-premises/16183165#sthash.NM6FRB1q.dpuf