32-year-old PhD student at IIT-Kanpur student dies by suicide in hostel room

Kanpur: A 32-year-old PhD student at IIT-Kanpur allegedly died by suicide in his hostel room, police said on Wednesday.

Prashant Singh, who was pursuing PhD in mechanical engineering, hanged himself on Tuesday night, Police Commissioner B P Jogdand said, adding no suicide note was recovered from the room.

A release issued by the institute stated that a resident of Hall 8 called the security section to report that Singh's room was locked from the inside and he was not responding.

When the institute administration officials forcibly opened the door, they found Singh hanging from the ceiling with the help of a bed-sheet, it said.

Singh was taken to the health centre of the institute, where he was declared dead, the institute said, adding his family members who reside in Varanasi were informed about the incident.

A mobile phone and a laptop belonging to the student have been seized from the spot, the police commissioner said.

The body has been sent for postmortem and the examination will be performed by a panel of three doctors, he said, adding the procedure will be videographed.

Singh, a student with outstanding academic qualifications, enrolled in IIT-Kanpur in 2019 to work for his master's degree before deciding to enrol in a PhD programme in 2021, the release said.