IIT student suicides rose sharply over last decade, report finds

A report on suicides and unnatural deaths of students at India's IITs has surfaced, prepared by a group of IIT alumni. According to their data, a total of 173 IIT students died by suicide or in unnatural circumstances between 2006 and September 2026. About 70 percent of these cases were recorded in the last ten years.

The figures are based on an analysis by Dhiraj Singh, founder of the Global IIT Alumni Support Group and a former student of IIT Kanpur. According to Singh's report, 51 deaths were recorded between 2006 and 2015, while the number rose to 120 between 2016 and September 2026. The overall data includes records of at least 171 deaths.

The report says 82 percent of all suicide cases took place inside IIT campuses. Such cases rise during examination and result periods on campus, while they decline during semester breaks. The report also states that the rise in deaths cannot be explained by the increase in student numbers alone, and describes it as a serious issue linked to student mental health and institutional management.

The issue of suicides at IITs has come back into focus after two recent cases. On August 22, Rishikesh Kumar, a 31-year-old MSc Physics student at IIT Delhi, died, after which students protested demanding a fair investigation and accountability. The institute also set up an external inquiry committee to look into the matter.

Subsequently, on September 18, Sahil Wakode, a 20-year-old BTech student, died at IIT Bombay. It is being said that before his death, Sahil was caught using AI on his mobile phone to look up answers to questions during a mid-semester exam. Following his death, students protested on the IIT Bombay campus. IIT Bombay later apologised for its initial statement about the circumstances preceding the incident, saying it was not appropriate to have made that statement while the investigation was ongoing.

Dhiraj Singh's report identifies male BTech students and female PhD scholars as particularly vulnerable groups, together accounting for about 60 percent of suicides recorded over the last two decades. The report also claims a difference by social category. It says the suicide rate among Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) students was nearly double that of students from the general category, and that these students died at a relatively younger age. The report also claims that in the post-COVID period, the suicide rate among SC students was 2.6 times and among ST students 4.2 times that of the general category.

To improve the situation for students, the report suggests a 14-point policy. This includes structured mentoring through friends, senior students and alumni, early identification of at-risk students, confidential mental health services and campus-level mental health surveys. It also recommends training for professors, staff and students, including institutional wellbeing in NIRF rankings, appointing a dedicated wellbeing leadership role at IITs, and having an independent expert committee review past student deaths. The data was compiled using RTI responses and media reports. No central official database of IIT student deaths currently exists.