Another IIT Kharagpur student found dead in hostel
The Statesman | 19 July 2025
A 21-year-old mechanical engineering student of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur was found dead in his hostel room on Friday morning, with preliminary police investigations pointing to suicide.
Writam Mandal, a fourth-year student and resident of Regent Park area in Kolkata, was discovered hanging in his room 203 at Rajendra Prasad Hall after his father alerted hostel authorities when the student failed to respond to calls. The hostel warden, unable to get a response, informed the police, who broke open the door and found the body.
The student had returned to the campus on Wednesday after the summer vacation, and classes resumed on Thursday. No suicide note was recovered from the room. The body has been sent for post-mortem examination.
“We are awaiting the autopsy report to confirm the cause of death,” a police officer said.
A statement issued by IIT Kharagpur said: “As per records reviewed at the institute’s SARTH Counselling Centre, there were no prior indicators of mental health concerns. The faculty advisor from the department reported no apparent academic or non-academic issues.”
This is the third suspected suicide on the IIT Kharagpur campus this year. A fourth-year student died by suicide on 20 April, and another third-year undergraduate student was found dead in his hostel room on 12 January.
In response to the rising number of student suicides, the institute had recently introduced initiatives, including counselling calendars and QR codes on hostel room doors, to enable students to seek help from on-campus counsellors discreetly.