20-year-old IIT Roorkee student dies: 70 exams postponed to November 22

IIT Roorkee has postponed 70 examinations to November 22 following the death of a 20-year-old student allegedly by suicide at the institute. The exams were scheduled to be held on Friday (November 13). The students was found hanging in his hostel room, with police recovering a purported suicide note from the room. The deceased has been identified as Ayush Rajauria, a second-year student of the institute's BS-MS programme in Mathematics and Computing and hailed from Raj Nagar Extension in Ghaziabad.

According to police, the incident came to light around midnight on Thursday after Kuldeep Singh Negi, a security officer at IIT Roorkee, informed the Kotwali Roorkee police that a student had died by suicide in room number BS 10 on the second floor of Govind Bhawan hostel.

Station House Officer (SHO) Pradeep Bisht, accompanied by a police team and a field unit, reached the spot. After the door failed to open, it was forced open with the assistance of security guards. The student's body was found hanging from a ceiling fan with a bedsheet, police said.

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The body was subsequently sent to the Civil Hospital in Roorkee for a post-mortem examination. Police also examined the student's laptop but found no suspicious information so far. The scene was videographed as part of the investigation, they added.

Officials said Rajauria had been receiving counselling on campus for over a year to cope with mental stress. Sonika Srivastava, in-charge of the IIT Roorkee's media cell told PTI that the student was being counselled at the campus wellness centre, a facility dedicated to supporting students who may be experiencing depression or other psychological challenges.

She said that all the students and their families have been informed about the postponement of the exams and the revised scheduled date. Police said on Friday that the student's family had been informed and an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death was underway.

In a statement, IIT Roorkee expressed grief over the student's death and extended condolences to his family. The death sent shockwaves through students and parents, bringing the focus back on mental health of IIT students across the country and the rising number of student suicides on campuses of prestigious institutes.

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