KOLKATA: Residents of Natun Pally in Saradamoyee Lane, Regent Park, found it difficult to comprehend how Ritam Mondal, one of the brightest youths from the locality, could have died. They saw him excel in studies and then get into IIT four years ago. Everyone believed he would land a top job and set an example for other children in the neighbourhood to follow. Ritam, who was in the locality until three days ago before returning to the campus on Monday, was found hanging in his room at the Rajendra Prasad Hall of residence at IIT Kharagpur on Friday morning.He was the only son of his parents. His family had been residing on the ground floor of a two-storied rented house since 2006. Neighbours said Ritam was a student of South End School and scored very high marks in both ICSE and ISC exams. Ritam’s score in ICSE was 98.2% and in ISC 97.3%. “He was like a son to me. When they came to the house in 2006, Ritam was barely one or one-and-a-half years old. I have literally seen him grow from a toddler to a young man with the prospect of a bright future. He used to spend hours with us playing. Even this time, we had a lengthy conversation,” said their landlord, Sujit Hari Datta. According to him, Ritam was a jovial person and never misbehaved or quarrelled with anyone. “The bonding between Ritam and his parents was also good. There was never any tension between them. During our last conversation, a few days ago, I did not find that he was frustrated,” added Datta.Another neighbour, who did not want to be named, was crying profusely as she spoke about Ritam. “He was a well-behaved boy and known for his academic brilliance”
