An IIT-Kharagpur student, who hailed from Andhra Pradesh, was found hanging inside his room, the local police said on Friday.
"Gangireddy Hanimi Reddy, a second-year M.Tech student, was found hanging on Wednesday night. Initial probe suggests suicide but an autopsy report can reveal how he actually died," said a senior police officer of West Midnapore district in West Bengal.
The officer said security guards of the institute were informed by the students that Reddy's room had been locked for a long time. He was sharing his room with one other student. Officials later broke open the door and found him hanging inside.
"The family members are not ready to accept that Reddy committed suicide and have demanded a detailed probe," the officer said.
According to media reports, Reddy was the son of a farmer. Family members of the student demanded that he sounded completely normal when they spoke to him and expressed shock over the incident.
IIT's registrar B N Singh said there was no academic pressure on Reddy.
"He was a good student. MTech second year involves project work. The project completion time and the placements both are far away. So, there was apparently no academic pressure."
"As per the supervisors, he was doing well. His death is very unfortunate. We informed the police at the right time and the rest is a matter of investigation," Singh said.
A post mortem was conducted on the body before it was handed over to the family members of the deceased. A forensic report is awaited and is expected to arrive in a matter of days. The police said that an investigation had begun into the incident and find out the reason behind the student taking the extreme step.
If you are aware of anyone facing mental health issues or feeling suicidal, please provide help.
Life Suicide Prevention Helpline No.78930-78930
Roshni Helpline 1: +91-66202000, Helpline 2: +91-27848584
IANS inputs