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Chief Editors: Ayush Agarwal (210100035@iitb.ac.in), Ishita Poddar (21b030016@iitb.ac.in)
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This morning, the institute woke up to the tragic news of the suicide committed by a student from IIT Bombay. Jaideep Swain, an M.Tech first-year student from CSE was found dead in a hotel in Jogeshwari, Mumbai. In an attempt to find out what could have led to him taking such an extreme step, Insight sought to talk to people close to him.
Swain, who lived in Hostel 1, was described by his wingmates as a friendly person who used to actively volunteer for various clubs. He also participated in hackathons and had applied for the Hostel SysAd post. Prof R B Sunoj, the warden of H1, informed us that he was briefed about the incident yesterday afternoon by the Hall Manager. Swain’s room was searched by the police, who would submit a copy to the Chief Security Officer (CSO) in due time. The Student Wellness Center told us that he had never contacted any of their counselors.
Prof Varsha Apte, his faculty guide, told us that this news has come as a shock to the entire department. Swain had been doing well academically and hence she did not think it could have led him to take his own life. She also did not know of any family pressure on him. For about a month, he had been working as a Research Assistant in the Computer Centre. and contributing to a new lab started by the CC as a student-driven initiative. At the CC, K. Madhu Babu, one of Swain’s colleagues, expressed similar emotion of shock and said to us that Swain hadn’t seemed depressed or sad at all. He had been perfectly fine when they last spoke on Thursday and told them that he was going home.
The CSE department organised a short condolence meet at 5:15 PM on 4th September where Prof Uday Khedkar, the HoD spoke a few words on this incident. There were a couple of speeches given by some professors and Swain’s friends. We reached out to Prof Khedkar who commented that they are still in the phase of gathering information on the suicide and are monitoring Swain’s roommate and his close friends in the institute.
Lastly, we reached out to the Institute Student Companion Program (ISCP), the mentorship body for the postgraduate freshers in the campus tasked with their well-being. The ISCP was waiting for more information before they could talk to us.
Insight would like to urge the students to not speculate about the suicide and await further information on the case. We would update the student population about the same as soon as we receive further information.
(With inputs from The Times of India)
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Chief Editor: Aparajeya Dash
Mail to: insight@iitb.ac.in