MUMBAI: A second-year BTech student at IIT Bombay died by suicide in his single-occupancy room in Hostel No 4 on the IIT Powai campus on Tuesday night, police said.Powai police said they suspected a failed love affair was the reason behind the death of the 20-year-old, a student of Materials Science and Engineering (often paired with Metallurgical Engineering). Police said they did not find any suicide note in the room and seized his mobile phone to gather information on the cause.Police registered a case of accidental death report (ADR) and said they were probing the matter. They also said they registered a case of suicide and were probing the matter under Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, which outlines the legal procedure for police officers to investigate and report on unnatural deaths, suicides, or suspicious circumstances.The IIT management informed the student’s parents on Tuesday night after a security guard found him hanging from the ceiling in the hostel room, police said. Police said the motive would be clearer after the parents arrived and provided information.“Deceased parents will reach Mumbai today (Wednesday) afternoon from Rajasthan. Four teams has been formed who are probing the matter,” said DCP (West Zone-3) Datta Nalawade.Police said the student was seen in class and on campus on Tuesday, but after 5 pm he did not respond to phone calls made by his parents from Rajasthan. “At 10.30 pm, the parents again called on the deceased mobile but there was no response. This made them to call the IIT security officials who visiting the room no G-4147 of hostel no 4 which was found locked from inside. The guards and other students from adjacent rooms noticed the deceased hanging from ceiling when they looked into the room from the window,” said a police officer of the Powai police station.Police officials said they learnt from IIT and students that the second-year class commenced on Monday and the student died by suicide the next day between 5 pm and 10.30 pm. “It was overheard from students in the campus that the deceased may have taken the extreme step due to failed affair and seemed to be depressed. The team is probing all angles to get to know the motive behind the extreme step,” said the officer.Police said the student took the extreme step a day after the second-year class commenced, and they doubted he returned from his Rajasthan home.
