Iit Student Commits Suicide! Steps To Prevent This

Discussion in 'General Discussions' started by Sweety2016, Jan 8, 2019.

  1. Sweety2016

    Sweety2016 Gold IL'ite

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    A Phd scholar pursuing research in materials and metallurgical sciences at IIT, Madras committed suicide in her hostel room by hanging herself few days back and the worst part of it was that it came to light only on the new year's eve when everybody were busy celebrating. Which means, the dead girl's body was lying unattended in the hostel room for a few days before the police recovered her which is the most depressing part of the entire episode..
    Her parents were clueless of why their daughter did not call them for two days and had called her guide to inquire about the same. That is when the professor told her batch mates to find out about her in the hostel and when she did not respond to the knocks, her doors were broke open..
    How come even the neighbors or her batch mates didn't come to know about it? In a campus like IIT with more than 5000 students, faculties did the girl did not have a single soul to whom she could open up or talk to..Getting into IIT is no easy task and she would have been a meritorious student to have achieved this feat. A person needs tremendous courage to think about dying and planning her own death. Imagine her thought process a few days before executing her plan. She would have felt extremely lonely and gloomy unable to see any light in the end of the tunnel..She would have definitely tried keeping herself positive but her overwhelming feeling of sadness would have defeated her every time she tried escaping from the clutches of depression. To be very simple and straight forward, she needed help. Help in any form. Parents stay away and would be of limited support. But what about fellow classmates? They must have been so much engrossed in their own lives failing to notice a troubled soul screaming for help or they must have been mean enough to bully and discriminate her based on caste, colour or creed!!...Academic pressure is same for everyone. with good company and group in college we can somehow sail through it!

    In the past 6 months, many students, professionals from elite institutions have committed suicides due to various reasons.
    I felt the need to start this thread as I was in the same situation 10 years back. I was also in an IIT and got placed in a govt institution when I wrote my first post on IL of committing suicide as I had no friends and felt lonely..Even today I dont have anyone, I am constantly being discriminated but i was lucky enough to have my family, my strength who motivates me whenever I feel low...Of course I come to IL to start the most absurd threads with no second thoughts and fear of being judged due to the faith I have in the goodness here! Now that i have crossed that stage, it is time to help others in distress. Being an introvert myself, i just have no clue of how to begin with

    Apart from working on ourselves like loving ourselves, excercising, yoga, hobbies etc..what can we do to help fellow human beings without being asked for? For instance if this girl would have had atleast one reliable person (not friends but even a mere acquitance who is sensible enough) to open up to then may be she would have been alive today!. So what should we do to be that reliable person to someone?
     
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  2. Rihana

    Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    OK, I googled "IIT suicide" to read the news, and search showed many cases within the last few months itself. This lady was 25 and a PhD student. In September 2018 a final year student of IIT Chennai, and in December 2018 a lady Prof. In Sept 2018 a Guwahati IIT student (girl) committed suicide in first semester. And just yesterday on January 7th, a 2nd year student of IIT Guwahati committed suicide.

    It's even more than an epidemic?

    Friends on campus or virtual friends in online forums can help but they are also busy with their own lives, studies. What would help more is more counselors on campus, more access to mental health services, accommodations in classroom and in testing/exams for those dealing with mental or other health issues. And if the concept of a gap semester or gap year in college is allowed and easy to opt for.

    Sadly, the reasons for some of the student suicides listed above are like: a note that said "engineering sucks", not able to make up poor attendance, parental pressure.

    It is still quite common for students to pursue whatever branch of engineering they get, just for the IIT brand name. Studying subjects like metallurgy, mechanical eng'g if not interested in it, is very difficult. And that too studies at the IIT level.
     
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  3. Sweety2016

    Sweety2016 Gold IL'ite

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    @Rihana, Yes its becoming a serious concern..If you see the trend, students of UG mostly commit suicide out of parental pressure and because they dont have an inclination towards engineering. Here parents are solely responsible and had they been receptive towards the interests of their child, they would not have lost their child!

    But the person i mentioned was pursuing a Phd, matured enough and its a big deal, not in terms of admissions, but in terms of understanding the uncertainties associated with a Phd. Inspite of knowing it, she took a bold step and ventured into it because of the interest and love she had for her subjects. So i assume it must be some other reason than mere academic pressure that drove her to take this extreme step.

    Forget about the counsellors..Its just on papers..I know instances where highly confidential details revealed to the counsellors were leaked, the affected person was shamed and judged. We dreaded going to counsellors and even now unless its a paid private service, I wont go to the Dr in my lab just due to the above mentioned reasons.
     
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  4. Amulet

    Amulet IL Hall of Fame

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    I googled and found this:
    PhD scholar, 25, committs suicide in IIT-Madras
    The death of Ranjana Kumari, 25, is the second student suicide on campus in the last four months. The young woman was from Jharkhand.
    https://www.indiatoday.in/crime/story/iit-madras-phd-student-suicide-1421623-2019-01-02

    Foreign students finding themselves quite lonely in USA, would be cases similar to this one. Madras is as far away (perhaps even farther away) as a foreign country, for someone from Jharkhand.

    Suitable, and frequent checks by academic counselors, are available for UG students -- in both Madras, and in large State Universities of Amreeka. However, graduate students are left to their own mental devices; most grad students would like it that way. No more pesky low level academic counselors bothering you with a low grade on a quiz here, or an exam there, or the bother with getting caught (by campus security) for smoking weed etc...

    Graduate students are teated as grownups, and if there are serious academic or mental health issues, I am not sure how much (culturally foreign) Universities within India are prepared to deal with such problems.

    Googling IIT suicides and reading the hits is so depressing....
     
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  5. Amulet

    Amulet IL Hall of Fame

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    You seem to know more personal details about this victim. Perhaps after the investigations, we'd get to know what really happened.

    I went into the Institute's website, to see what sorts of academic stresses are imposed on their Ph.D. students. For an entrant in mid 2017, in her second year, the victim was still in the coursework taking stage. [Unfortunately, the website does not offer any information on required academic progress, such as Grade Points Average, and what would get a student go on an academic probation for lack of such progress]. The typical stresses, such as....good grades in coursework, and having to write research proposals, and defending one or more of those in front of a committee of peers or professors (logic, communication, foundational knowledge etc.), and then having a reasonable Thesis advisor and a Thesis matter that is tractable within the (five year) time frame of the course...would make a Ph.D. student's life go up and down in general state of mind.

    Students do feel stressed out, because they can see facebook information on old classmates (quite average students, with lower grades in their B.Tech) having real jobs, even married lives, and having a good time in the real world, whereas the one stuck in a PhD thing, has to toil on some nonsense about high temperature alloys, and getting spurious results because of equipment failures. Many on the outside may (also) think of Ph.D. students as those who were unable to get real jobs, and therefore parked themselves in a college until they are ready, and confident enough to come out into the real world. The stress is quite a lot from all sides.

    The Academic department has this on the victim:
    Ms. Ranjana Kumari
    Thesis Topic: Creep behavior of advanced Co-based superalloys.
    Thesis Advisor:
    Dr. K. Ravi Sankar

    The Fifth Estate, a campus News organization offers this on their fb page:
    The Fifth Estate, IIT Madras
    January 2 at 8:04 PM ·
    A second year PhD student and resident of Sabarmati hostel, from the department of Metallurgy and Material Sciences passed away by suicide, estimated around the 30th of December 2018. The institute authorities and the police have been working to investigate the same, and updates will be provided when they become available to us. T5E offers its deepest condolences to the deceased’s family and friends.

    Readers are meanwhile encouraged to note the following helpline numbers from both within and outside the institute:

    Medical Emergency:
    044 2257 8888
    Security Duty Room:
    044 2257 9999
    Telecounselling:
    044 2257 5555
    044 3083 3994
    DoSt Office:
    044 2257 8051
    MedAll:
    044 2257 5555/ 944541 8162 / 8172 / 8312
    Mitr Student Counsellor:
    9176480056
    Sneha India Foundation:
    04424640050
     
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2019
  6. Sweety2016

    Sweety2016 Gold IL'ite

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    +1 More about this student Ranjana Kumari...(info from my colleagues at IIT, M)

    she had no friends in IIT and her parents were divorced. was exceptional in academics..But she was always aloof and seemed introverted...All her fb posts were about standing up to oneself if you dont have friends and support system...Even her own hostelmates did not know her..

    they have a 24 x 7 counselling helpline called 'Mitr' with many professors and students working with it..but that has not reduced the no of suicides!

    Man is a social animal..Some are lucky enough to have good friends, family and support system, money for their rescue and some are strong enough to handle themselves alone..these species survive somehow..While the unlucky ones and the weaker ones reduce to ashes sooner or later..
     
  7. GeetaKashyap

    GeetaKashyap IL Hall of Fame

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    @Sweety2016 ,

    About 3 days ago, a doctor who was preparing for her National eligibility test to pursue her MD committed suicide at Thane, Maharashtra.

    Depression, misplaced ideas and expectations, failed love life, parental or peer pressures, body image issues or the real mental issues may be behind most suicides. A caring community or support systems go a long way in helping these victims. A firm belief in life, a sense of purpose and enough EQ and attitude to understand that There Is Life Beyond Failure! would help everyone. Ultimately it is about one's paradigms.
    My article, Mental Health: Coping With Lows. listed some of the self-help methods and it also has many useful links.
     
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2019
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  8. hino

    hino Silver IL'ite

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    Very sad. Depression is the major cause for suicidal attempts.

    Students/younger ones are at a higher risk because of family and college/school pressures and major life and hormonal changes.

    parents are partially responsible for the kid's failure. sad to know that her parents are divorced and she extraordinary student and excelled in her academics.

    Solutions :
    Change in the mindset of the society.

    Stop over-hyping NIT/IIT/IISC's and the obsession needs to stop.

    few years back , IITs/IISC don't do enough to help students, mentally and academically. Which is partially true. Probably proper guidance system needs to be established.

    Counselling and mentorship programmes have been started recently .But there is still a long way to go..

    24/7 Helpline in India (AASRA) :
    Visit AASRA or call their 24/7 helpline at +91-22-27546669 or +91-22-27546667. You can also e-mail aasrahelpline@yahoo.com
     
  9. Amulet

    Amulet IL Hall of Fame

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    It appears that you feel that having a family that loves/supports you everyday is a solace in your life when you face constant discrimination from the outside world.

    If lonesome people on University campus hostels can get a local host-family, people who speak their own language, people who can visit with the student, or invite the student to come home for tea/biscuits on an occasional weekend, there would the be kind of support you are finding useful.

    You can talk to someone in IIT-M and see if they have a program like that to match up their out-of-state students with a suitable host-family in the city. Chennai is a large city, with a big computer software industry, and several car manufacturing factories. There is bound to be a multicultural population, speaking all kinds of languages etc.. A big engineering institute like that could easily ask all the bigwigs in the local industries to encourage their employees to do a bit of socializing with their students, especially those from a different language/culture, spending a lonely time in Chennai.

    This kind of program exists in many forin universities -- called Town-&-Gown interactions. Gown refers to the convocation attire of graduates. Townspeople get involved in campus activities, and volunteer to interact with students from foreign cultures. Pickup students at the bus,train, airport when they arrive, chat with them now and then, invite them home on occasions, and go with the student to campus activities - including spectator sports. All these make the students feel a little less lonesome. And if the host family have their own children going to college in a far away town, they would also be quite empathetic to someone else's child going to a nearby college in their town. Works well for both sides.

    Investigate and see if they need any help. The phone numbers are in my post above on this thread. Good luck.
     
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2019
  10. shravs3

    shravs3 IL Hall of Fame

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    This could have been the reason too. Or something even more personal not sure
     

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