Chennai/New Delhi: Bhavesh Jain, the elder brother of IIT-Madras student Sachin Kumar who died by suicide on 31 March, has written to the institute’s administration blaming the latter’s PhD guide for his death. Jain has asked for an investigation into the suicide of the 32-year-old, and also sought action against the guide for alleged abetment.
In a letter to institute director V. Kamakoti Wednesday, which has been accessed by ThePrint, Jain said that Kumar was under mental duress for the past few months, and was seeking treatment for the same. He said the PhD guide was aware of Kumar’s mental state, and yet put “undue pressure” on him.
Reached for comment, Kumar’s guide Ashis Kumar Sen replied on WhatsApp, “Both internal (IIT Madras) and external (police) investigations are ongoing. The internal report may come out in a couple of days. For now, I request you to contact our director and the institute for any information regarding our version.”
ThePrint reached dean of students Neelesh J.V. Vasa on the phone. “You can’t call me like this. It is very irritating,” Vasa said, directing ThePrint to the institute’s communication team, which said they will “flag it to the institute and get back”. This report will be updated once they do.
Kumar’s is the third student suicide reported from IIT-Madras within a span of one-and-a-half months.
On 14 March, 20-year-old V. Vaipu Pushpak Sree Sai, a third-year B-Tech student, allegedly died by suicide. A month before that, 24-year-old PhD student Stephen Sunny was allegedly found hanging from the ceiling of his room. A note that said, “don’t prosecute”, was recovered from the room.
Representatives of the Joint Action Committee on Mental Health, an ad-hoc committee formed by concerned students, expressed disgruntlement with the way the college was dealing with student suicide on campus.
“There’s a mental health emergency on campus, and the college isn’t doing enough to address it,” the committee said.
In a statement released last month, IIT-Madras said the post-Covid era has been challenging. “The institute has been endeavouring to improve and sustain the well-being of the students/scholars, faculty and staff on campus, while constantly evaluating the various support systems in place,” it said.
“A standing Institute Internal Inquiry Committee, including elected student representatives, which has been recently constituted, will look into such incidents.”
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Contents of the letter
Jain alleged in his letter that Kumar was reprimanded by his PhD guide for leaving for a conference at IIT-Roorkee along with his lab mate 2 days prior to schedule, and was about to initiate disciplinary action against him. He said the guide had informed the family of the same in December.
“In a video call with my mother and I in December, the guide mentioned his plan to take disciplinary action against Sachin. He also told us that Sachin seemed to be under mental duress,” Jain said to ThePrint over the phone.
In his letter, Jain, who works for a private firm, alleged that Kumar was barred from entering the research lab after the IIT-Roorkee incident, and was tasked with completing his lab mate’s research as well.
“After this, Sachin was visibly disturbed,” Jain wrote in the letter in Hindi.
He also claimed that Kumar had informed them that there will be a delay in him getting his degree since the guide had “overloaded him with work”.
He said Kumar hung himself after a meeting with the guide earlier in the day.
“The PhD guide’s inhuman behaviour is directly responsible for Sachin’s decision to take his own life,” Jain said in the letter.
The family belongs to a small town in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, and Kumar was researching microfluidics. He was in the fifth year of his programme, and eager to graduate. He had plans of going abroad for further research.
When asked if the family will be filing a police complaint, Jain said he only wanted IIT to look into the matter for now. “We are a family of limited means. We can’t pursue a police case right now,” he said. Kumar is survived by Jain and their mother.
Spate of suicides
ThePrint visited IIT-Madras on 3 April and spoke to students about the environment on the campus.
The students alleged that there have been several cases of suicide attempts on the campus that haven’t been reported to the media. “Only one case of a student who tried to take his life by consuming sleeping pills has been reported. The fact is, there have been several cases of suicide attempts here. It’s a scary situation,” a student said.
Another student added, “A DJ night was going on in the college the day Sachin died. Nobody seems to care.”
The students also expressed lack of faith in the redressal systems available to them. “We have the MITR and SAATHI programmes on campus, wherein students and faculty receive general training to support students dealing with pressure. This is not enough. We need professional care,” a third student said.
One of the students said they didn’t have faith in the campus counsellors, who sit in the office of the dean of students. “That location is the first deterrent in approaching them,” said the PhD student.
The student further alleged that he had approached the wellness centre on the campus in December to report that one of his friends looked stressed and hadn’t come out of his room for weeks.
“Instead of approaching the student, the counsellor informed the dean instead, who then informed the student’s PhD guide. That is against student interest, PhD guides then turn against us and make our lives even more difficult,” the student said.
Students said that even in the midst of this “mental health emergency”, their teachers haven’t been dealing with them sensitively. “A conference was held recently where teachers said they’re preparing us for the world. They’re not willing to accept there’s something wrong with the functioning of the college,” said a student.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
Source: The Print
