Kurukshetra, April 17
A second-year student of the National Institute of Technology Kurukshetra, was found hanging in her hostel room on Thursday, marking the fourth suspected suicide on campus in the past two months and prompting fresh concerns over student wellbeing.
The student, identified as Diksha Dubey from Bihar, was pursuing B.Tech. in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science. According to Adarsh Police Station SHO Vishal Kumar, the incident came to light after her friends tried to contact her but were unable to reach her, and found her room locked from the inside.
Police and forensic teams reached the hostel around 3 pm and forced open the door, where Dubey was found hanging from a ceiling fan. The body has been sent to LNJP Civil Hospital for post-mortem examination. The SHO said the cause of the incident is yet to be established, and further action will depend on the investigation and statements from the family.
The incident triggered protests on campus, with a large number of students gathering at the main gate late at night. Protesters alleged that the response of certain hostel staff and authorities was inadequate and raised concerns about the handling of the situation. Students also questioned the response time and said more effective steps are needed to address stress and mental health issues. While the institute had introduced measures such as mentoring systems, improved faculty interaction, and counseling services after earlier incidents, students said these steps have not been sufficient.
Earlier this year, a first semester student from Telangana, Angod Shiva, was found hanging in his hostel room on February 16. Another student from Nuh died by suicide on March 31. On April 8, Priyanshu Sharma, a third-year civil engineering student from Sirsa, was also found hanging in his hostel room.
Officiating Director Brahmjit said the administration has accepted several demands raised by students following the latest protest. He said the institute will now allow re-examinations for reappear papers once a year, replacing the earlier semester-based system. He said students had raised concerns that pending reappear papers were accumulating under the earlier system, increasing academic pressure and mental stress.
He added that efforts are underway to create a mechanism to address student grievances more effectively and ensure timely resolution. The repeated incidents have brought attention to campus support systems, with expectations that both the administration and students will work towards strengthening measures to address mental health concerns.
