In a gruesome incident, a 22-year-old Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) student was found dead in his hostel room on Sunday. The deceased was identified as Ankit Walker, a fourth-year student of the Ocean Engineering and Naval Architecture department, as per the Live Mint report.

The institute informed the campus community about the student's death in an email which read, "As we mourn the passing of our beloved student, we urge you to approach counselling and support services available...in case such support is needed."

Walker hailed from Maharashtra's Gondia district. Walker was found dead after his classmate knocked on his door. When he received no response from inside the room, he alerted the authorities. The authorities immediately informed the police which recovered the body from the room. The police have registered a case of unnatural death in the case.

Report quoted a senior police official from Paschim Medinipur district saying, "Primarily, it seems to be a case of unnatural death. The deceased has died by suicide. But we are waiting for the post-mortem report to confirm."
 

His body was found hanging in the hostel, Jagadish Chandra Bose Hall. The police recovered her body and sent it to the Kharagpur Subdistrict Hospital  for further procedures. Although, the police is referring the death as apparent suicide, the post-mortem will reveal the exact reason of the death.

Second death in IIT Kharagpur this year

Earlier on January 12, the body of a third-year student of the electrical engineering department, named Sawan Malik (21), was found hanging in his hostel room. Malik belonged to Paschim Medinipur's Khukurdaha.

The unfortunate trend at the institute is worrying, as last year, two cases were also reported. In October 2023, a fourth-year student, hailing from Telangana, died by suicide. Prior to that, in June, a third-year student from Kerala was also found dead on the campus.