Step Out Of The Spiral

Promoting mental health literacy among students and educators is the right step towards addressing the rising suicide rates in higher education institutions

- Albert P’Rayan

Of late, the number of suicides in the (Indian Institute of Technology) IITs and other higher education institutions has been on the rise. This year, three IIT Hyderabad students committed suicide, and it was reported that in their suicide notes they had mentioned ‘academic pressure’ and ‘depression’ as reasons for their decision to end their lives. Four cases of suicides were reported at IIT Kharagpur, and the institute was criticised for its failure to prevent students from taking such extreme steps. Many more cases of suicides in other higher educational institutions have been reported in the recent past.

Very recently, a first-year postgraduate student of Humanities and Development Studies at IIT Madras, allegedly committed suicide. She was found hanging in her hostel room. It is said that the girl had mentioned that a professor was the cause of her death, and the case is being investigated by the Central Crime Branch. Hopefully, the public will come to know the real cause of her alleged suicide. Some IIT sources say that she was a bright student and therefore academic pressure could not have driven her to take her own life (if we assume that it is a suicide). Why did the meritorious student decide to commit suicide? Was she subjected to any form of mental torture or harassment? Was she not prepared to face challenges? Did she not seek help from anyone? Should the education system be blamed for the rising number of suicides in higher education institutions? Many such questions have been raised and, unfortunately, some questions remain unanswered.