Second Student Death at IIT Delhi Sparks Protests, Calls for Independent Probe
The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) staged a protest outside the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi on Sunday, demanding accountability from the institute a day after a 31-year-old second-year MSc student reportedly died by suicide on campus.
The demonstrators accused the administration of “institutional apathy”, noting that this was the second student death at IIT Delhi this year. They urged the institute to confront what they described as a far longer pattern of student deaths that it has failed to address.
JNUSU president Aditi said: “We demand the implementation of the Rohith Act so that students who enter institutes as bright young minds are not suddenly told that they are not meritorious enough and have to deal with pressure from the administration. It is not just IIT Delhi. We will raise our voices across campuses.”
The Rohith Act is a proposed legal framework named after Rohith Vemula, a PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad who died in 2016. Student organisations have long campaigned for its enactment, arguing that it would provide safeguards against discrimination and arbitrary administrative action in higher education institutions.
The All India Students’ Association (AISA) also issued a statement demanding an independent inquiry into the death. It called for full transparency on counselling infrastructure and its actual accessibility to students, a review of the discretionary power supervisors hold over students’ academic futures, and an end to the administration’s practice of shielding itself from media scrutiny and accountability.
In response, IIT Delhi issued a release stating: “The institute deeply mourns the tragic and untimely demise of an MSc student on August 22. The Delhi police are investigating the incident. Our deepest thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved family. The institute is providing all support to them.”
Student activists, however, alleged that the institute’s response followed a familiar script. “Reduce every death to individual mental illness, issue a condolence e-mail, and move on — while the structural conditions that produce this suffering go unexamined,” one student said.
The Delhi police have registered a case and are investigating the circumstances of the death. Authorities have not yet released further details, including the identity of the student.
This is the second death of a student at IIT Delhi in 2025, according to student organisations. The earlier incident had also triggered protests and calls for improved mental health support. Over recent years, student deaths in higher education institutions across India have sparked nationwide debates about academic pressures, caste discrimination, and the adequacy of mental health services. Several committees and advisories have called for reforms, yet student groups maintain that implementation remains inadequate.
Student bodies have repeatedly stressed the need for systemic changes, including stronger counselling services, reduced academic pressure, and greater accountability for administration. The JNUSU has said it will continue to raise the issue across campuses.
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