IIT Madras Students’ family seeks action against Guide for his suicide
The student Sachin, was a resident of West Bengal who allegedly died by suicide alleging inhumane treatment by his guide.
The family of Sachin Kumar Jain alleging harassment from faculties has demanded action against the people responsible for driving him to commit suicide. The family has written a complaint to the Director of IIT Madras demanding action.
With growing cases of suicide in IITs mostly linked to harassment by faculty or students a such case has come to light at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in the past two months when a 32-year-old PhD student was found dead in his room.
The student Sachin, was a resident of West Bengal who allegedly died by suicide alleging inhumane treatment by his guide. In a letter to IIT Madras Director Sachin’s family cited such treatment by the guide as the reason for his suicide and demanded action against the people responsible.
On March 31, 2023, Sachin had a meeting with his guide in the morning, after which he returned home and put up a WhatsApp status “I am sorry, I am not good enough”. Sachin's brother alleges that his guide knew that Sachin was having mental health issues.
As per APPSC IIT Bombay, despite knowing that, his guide was harassing him with disciplinary action, blocking his access to the lab and burdening him with extra work, which worsened his condition. He informed his family that his degree will be delayed as the guide was making him do more work.
“Harassment from faculties is normalised in IITs. There is no institutional support system for students to raise their grievances against faculty harassment and humiliation. Faculties need to be held accountable for their inhumane actions. Students should be treated with respect,” alleges APPSC IIT in a tweet.
According to a data shared by Ministry of Education in the Parliament, 33 students have died by suicide across IITs since 2018. While, 61 suicide cases were reported during since 2018 from the IITs, National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs).
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Abhay an alumnus of IIMC and Delhi University, has over a decade long experience of reporting on various beats of journalism. During his free time he prefers listening to music or play indoor and outdoor games.