Overview
- Rishikesh Kumar, a 31-year-old MSc physics student, fell from the sixth floor of the Lecture Hall Complex on August 22 and was declared dead.
- Delhi Police registered an abetment-to-suicide FIR after a complaint by the institute and are examining CCTV footage, counselling records and the student’s phone.
- Hundreds of students have held multi-day sit-ins demanding a judicial-led inquiry, the resignation of student-welfare officials and ₹1 crore in compensation for the family.
- IIT Delhi first named former DGP Ashok Kumar to head an external inquiry but he recused himself and the institute has reconstituted the panel with retired Delhi High Court Justice Mukta Gupta as chair.
- Protesters and alumni point to roughly eight IIT‑Delhi suicides in the past 30 months and about 65–70 deaths across IITs in recent years, and they are pressing for an external ombudsperson, stronger mental-health care and faster institutional reforms.