Guwahati:

The students at IIT Guwahati campus continued their protests on Tuesday, boycotting classes for the second straight day over the alleged suicide by a student on Sunday night.

Thousands of students had staged a protest on Monday as well against the student’s death, demanding justice and accountability.

The third-year student of computer engineering was found dead in his room at the Brahmaputra hostel. This is the second incident in a month and the fourth death in IIT Guwahati this year.

Today, the students organised a candlelight vigil at the campus in his memory.

Later, they held protests and sat with the authorities for an open house discussion which remained inconclusive, sources from IIT Guwahati told NDTV.

Sources also said the students are demanding resignations of some faculty members, who, they allege, have been causing many of them “mental trauma”.

NDTV has sent queries to IIT Guwahati on allegations made by the protesting students. The institute is yet to respond.

The students have decided to continue with their protests, and even threatened to boycott the coming exams.

Professor Devendra Jalihal, Director of IIT Guwahati, has however, assured students that their demands will be looked into and appealed them to resume their classes.

New Delhi:

Incidents of student suicides in India have grown at an alarming annual rate, surpassing the population growth rate and overall suicide trends, according to a new report.

Based on the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, the “Student suicides: An epidemic sweeping India” report was launched on Wednesday at the Annual IC3 Conference and Expo 2024.

The report pointed out that while the overall suicide numbers increased by 2 per cent annually, student suicides cases surged by 4 per cent, despite a likely “under reporting” of student suicide cases. “Over the past two decades, student suicides have grown at an alarming annual rate of 4 per cent, double the national average. In 2022, male students constituted 53 pc (per cent) of the total student suicides. Between 2021 and 2022, male student suicides decreased by 6 per cent while female student suicides increased by 7 per cent,” noted the report compiled by IC3 Institute.

“The incidence of student suicides continues to surpass both population growth rates and overall suicide trends. Over the last decade, while the population of 0-24-year-olds reduced from 582 million to 581 million, the number of student suicides increased from 6,654 to 13,044,” it added.

The IC3 Institute is a volunteer-based organisation that provides support to high schools around the world through guidance and training resources for their administrators, teachers and counsellors to help establish and maintain robust career and college counselling departments.

According to the report, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Madhya Pradesh are identified as the states with the highest number of student suicides, together accounting for one-third of the national total.

Southern states and union territories collectively contribute 29 per cent of these cases, while Rajasthan, known for its high-stakes academic environment, ranks 10th, highlighting the intense pressure associated with coaching hubs like Kota.

“The data compiled by the NCRB is based on police-recorded first information reports (FIRs). However, it is important to acknowledge that the actual number of student suicides is likely underreported. This under-reporting can be attributed to several factors, including the social stigma surrounding suicide and the criminalisation of attempted and assisted suicide under Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code.

Although the 2017 Mental Healthcare Act decriminalises suicide attempts for individuals with mental illness, the legacy of criminalisation continues to impact reporting practices, it said.

“Moreover, there are significant data discrepancies due to the lack of a robust data collection system, particularly in rural areas, where reporting is less consistent compared to urban regions,” it said.

Ganesh Kohli, the Founder of the IC3 Movement, said the report serves as a reminder of the urgent need to address mental health challenges within our learning institutions.

“Our educational focus must shift to fostering the competencies of our learners such that it supports their overall well-being, versus pushing them to compete amongst each other.

“It is imperative that we build a systematic, comprehensive, and robust career and college counselling system within each institution, while seamlessly integrating the same within the learning curriculum,” he said.

Additionally, the report noted a dramatic increase in student suicides, with male suicides rising by 50 per cent and female suicides by 61 per cent over the past decade.

“Both genders have experienced an average annual increase of 5 pc (per cent) in the last five years. These alarming statistics underscore the critical need for enhanced counseling infrastructure and a deeper understanding of student aspirations.

“Addressing these gaps is essential for shifting the focus from competitive pressures to nurturing core competencies and well- being, thereby supporting students more effectively and preventing such tragedies,” the report said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Guwahati:

Students at a premier engineering college in Assam on Monday staged a sit-in on the campus demanding the sacking of the dean of the academics for his alleged role in the suicide of a student recently.

The protests, which began at 7:30 am, took place at the National Institute Of Technology in Silchar.

Electric Engineering student Koj Buker, from Andhra Pradesh, was found dead in his hostel room on September 14.

The students allege that Buker was not allowed to go to the classes in fifth semester and was repeatedly insulted by the Dean of Academics, BK Roy, in front of the other students a few days back.

Last Friday, the students clashed with the police during an aggressive protest, forcing police to resort to lathicharge in which 40 people were injured.

“We want justice for Koj Buker and compensation for his family members. Koj was mentally and physically strong. He was not a drug addict. The NIT Silchar administration has given false allegation against him which was not justified. They said he was mentally unstable and a drug addict which was totally false,” said a protesting student.

NIT-Silchar director Dilip Kumar Baidya said he has sympathy for the student who died, but he had a bad academic record.

“We want resignation of Academic Dean BK Roy because the administration and him were responsible for his suicide. After his suicide, no one from the administration come to enquire about him. We want justice for our friend,” said another student.

The protesters also want a high-level inquiry by experts from outside the campus into the incident.

“We are very good friends and he was a very smiling face kind of a guy. After his mother’s death he got depressed and at the same time the six backlogs were slapped on him which has depressed him a lot. He appealed to the authorities to conduct a special examination so that he can clear the backlogs but the administration didn’t listen to his request and tear his application,” said a third-year student of Electric engineering department.

The classmates claimed that the Dean of Academics had insulted the victim who got six backlogs in his first semester examinations, held online in 2021 because of the pandemic.

Due to Covid lockdown, the victim was at home and failed to attend the online classes due to lack of internet connectivity, resulting in the backlogs, they claimed.

He had appealed to the authorities to conduct a special examination so that he could clear the backlogs, but the Dean of Academics allegedly disallowed it.

Following this incident, he locked himself in his room and was later found dead.