A 25-year-old PhD scholar at Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur died by suicide on Tuesday after jumping from the sixth floor of a campus residential building, triggering renewed concern over student mental health at premier institutions.
A promising researcher lost too soon
The scholar, a native of Rajasthan, had joined IIT Kanpur in July 2023 and was pursuing doctoral research in the Department of Earth Sciences. He lived on campus with his wife and three-year-old daughter; his wife is reportedly three months pregnant. Friends and faculty described him as a committed and promising researcher.
Ongoing treatment and unanswered gaps
Preliminary police findings indicate that the scholar had been battling schizophrenia for nearly two years, along with anxiety and depression. He was undergoing treatment and counselling through the institute’s health services. Friends had accompanied him to a physician a day earlier, and a counsellor follow-up was scheduled for the same evening as the incident. However, he died before the appointment could take place.
Back-to-back tragedies worry campus community
The death comes close on the heels of another student suicide on the campus late last month, deepening anxiety among students, parents, and educators. Data shows that nine of the 30 student suicides reported across India’s 23 IITs in the last two years occurred at IIT Kanpur — the highest at any single IIT.
Calls grow for stronger support systems
Education mentors and mental health advocates have stressed that student wellbeing must be treated as an institutional responsibility, not merely a personal struggle. Police have begun a detailed investigation, while the institute has expressed deep sorrow and extended condolences to the bereaved family.
The tragedy has once again highlighted the intense academic pressures faced by students and the urgent need for accessible, proactive, and stigma-free mental health support on campuses.