The alleged suicide of 19-year-old Fathima Latheef, a first year student of integrated MA Development Studies at Indian Institute of Technology – Madras's (IIT-M) Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, has once again raised questions about the premier institution's inability to address recurring suicides on its campus. As many as nine suicide cases have been reported from the institution since September 2016.
Fathima was from Kollam district in Kerala. She joined the five-year programme in August this year. She was found hanging in her hostel room on Saturday morning. While Fathima’s father Abdul Latheef alleged that three teachers were responsible for her daughter's suicide, Umakant Dash, head of humanities department, told Onmanorama that Fathima had not raised any complaints against the teachers in the past.
"This is the first time we are hearing about her complaint," Dash said. "We are in a shock. We do not know the reasons that led to her suicide. We will co-operate with the police investigation," he said.
A case has been registered at Kotturpuram police station in Chennai. But police refused to divulge any details about the case.
Fathima's suicide note, which was circulated at a press conference attended by her father in Kollam on Tuesday, had named three faculty members for her death.
Fathima's elder brother S Shameer told Onmanorama on Wednesday that his family wanted to know the circumstances that led to her death. "We are not alleging that Fathima faced discrimination," he said. "But we wanted to know what happened on November 8, the day when her body was found in her hostel room. We have approached the court for justice. We also appealed to the prime minister," he said.
Pressure for all
A few reports quoting police officials stated that Fathima ended her life as she was unable to cope with the academic pressure, but her father Abdul Latheef rejected them outright. "She scored highest marks in her class in the last examination. Hence the claims of academic pressure were unsubstantiated," Latheef told the press conference in Kollam on Tuesday.
However, students and faculty members at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Onmanorama spoke to felt that the academic pressure issue cannot be ruled out.
"Students here are reeling under a lot of pressure," said a student, who does not wish to be identified. "Majority of the students come from elite and well-settled families and a sudden change in the environment creates a lot of stress,” the student said, and added that students from socially and economically backward sections too live under pressure. "They feel alienated and hard to cope with the environment in the premier institution."
Nine suicides since 2016
There are no official figures on how many students committed suicides on the IIT-Madras campus, but media reported at least nine incidents since 2016. This includes the suicide of a Keralite - Shahul Kornath from Malappuram - who took his life in 2018.
Fathima's was the third suicide in 2019, after the deaths of Ranjana Kumari and Gopal Babu in January .
Ranjana Kumari from Jharkhand, a PhD scholar in Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, was found hanging in her hostel room in January. Police said no suicide note was found from her room. A research scholar, on condition of anonymity, said there were rumours that Ranjana committed suicide because of harassment . "But the police did not probe the suicide. The reason still remains a mystery," the scholar said.
MTech student G Gopal Babu, hailing from Uttar Pradesh, was found hanging in his hostel room. Police believed depression was the reason for his death.
Aditi Simha, assistant professor at the Department of Physics, consumed poison and ended her life in December 2018. Media reports cited family issue as the reason for her death.
Malappuram native Shahul Kornath, who was pursuing B Tech-M Tech (dual degree) in Naval Architecture, took the extreme step in September 2018. Police said Shahul was under pressure because of attendance shortage. No suicide note was found in this case too.
Four persons, including a research scholar, two graduate students and wife of a faculty member, had committed suicide in 2016.
Failure to address concerns
The recurring suicides indicate that IIT-Madras has failed to address students' concerns. This despite the fact that the institution has set up a three-tier support system that offers services of psychiatrists and counsellors apart from organising wellness workshops, talks and campaigns.
"The system is inadequate to address the problem," a research scholar at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, on condition of anonymity, said. "Despite recurring suicides, the institution has not constituted any fact-finding committees."
Flawed procedures?
Many students said police do not take serious efforts to find out suicide notes and other materials that might help in the investigation. "Fathima's family found her suicide note. The police could not find suicide notes in the four recent deaths," said a research scholar at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences.
The researcher said the institution has a flawed procedure in dealing with suicide cases. "Once a suicide is reported," he said, "the authorities will evacuate all people, except security guards, from the spot. Then police will decide to corroborate if a suicide note is found."
"Later, IIT-Madras will issue a press note to all media houses. It is an inhuman mechanism of handling suicides."
"The institute does not reveal the statistics of suicides, reasons and what needs to be done to curb them," said the research scholar. "That is why suicides continue to recur in IIT-M," he said.
(S Senthalir is an independent journalist based in Chennai)