Delhi: 27-year-old Phd student found dead in IIT campus

By: News Desk |
May 31, 2017 8:42 am

A 27-year-old student of PhD final year was found dead in the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi campus, police said on Tuesday. The deceased-identified as Manjula Devak was found hanging from a ceiling fan in her room at Nalanda Apartments in the IIT campus. “A PCR call was received at 7.45 pm at the south district control room, regarding a suicide by hanging at Nalanda Apartments, IIT-Delhi campus. The student was found hanging from a ceiling fan in her room in Nalanda Apartments in the IIT campus, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Chinmoy Biswal said.

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Manjula, who was married to Ritesh Virha, was a student of water resources. “Rooms in Nalanda Apartments are only given to married students. Her husband and family live in Bhopal. They have been informed about the incident, ” he added.

Meanwhile, a probe has been initiated and the cause of suicide was yet to be known as no suicide note was found at the crime scene. Students said Devak was about to finish her PhD thesis. Devak’s death comes two months after a first-year student tried to commit suicide by allegedly jumping from his hostel terrace. The incident had prompted IIT-Delhi Director V Ramagopal Rao to write an email to all students saying it should “shake all our conscience from slumber” and that there was a need to “collectively address the problem” and “build a support system” for students.

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