Overview
- A 31‑year‑old MSc student, Rishikesh Kumar, died after falling from the Lecture Hall Complex on August 22, and Delhi Police have registered an abetment‑to‑suicide case while examining his phone and counselling records.
- Hundreds of students staged multi‑day protests demanding an independent inquiry, resignations, ₹1 crore compensation and non‑retaliation assurances before formally pausing the sit‑in to wait for the external committee’s findings.
- IIT Delhi reconstituted the external inquiry panel and named retired Delhi High Court judge Mukta Gupta as chair after the prior appointee recused himself, and the institute has begun offering benevolent fund support and a voluntary contribution drive.
- Director Rangan Banerjee warned of disciplinary action after a late‑night march reached faculty residential areas and said some slogans were 'unsavoury' and 'threatening,' while students deny those claims and allege unauthorised plainclothes police surveillance on campus.
- The case has renewed scrutiny of IIT Delhi’s mental‑health systems after several student suicides since 2023, and the outcome of the probe could affect institute reforms, accountability measures and how protests and campus policing are handled going forward.