NEW DELHI: Slogans demanding justice rang through IIT Delhi Monday as students boycotted classes and gathered outside Lecture Hall Complex, days after the death of a 26-year-old MSc physics student.The protest began around 8.30am and continued into the afternoon. When rain lashed the campus, students moved inside Lecture Hall Complex, but continued their sit-in.They demanded an independent investigation into alleged administrative lapses surrounding the death and accountability of officials found responsible.The protesters also sought an examination of broader issues contributing to student distress, including denial of academic projects, housing-related difficulties and inadequate support systems, along with greater transparency on IIT’s mental-health protocols.Among the ’ demands were the resignation of senior officials, including the dean and associate deans of student affairs and the head of the physics department, Rs 1-crore compensation for the family, protection from disciplinary action for protesting students, and a written response from the administration.IIT Delhi director Rangan Banerjee and senior faculty members later met the protesters. Students said the administration responded positively to some demands, while others remained unresolved. Banerjee confirmed the meeting, but declined to comment further.At 8.33am Saturday, Kishangarh police station received a PCR call about the incident on the campus. Police took the student to IIT’s campus hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.According to the minutes of a student meeting held at IIT Delhi Sunday, the student had faced a series of health, academic and accommodation-related difficulties in the months preceding his death, especially after his father’s demise.The minutes further state that the student faced difficulties securing an academic project required for his degree and that he had attempted suicide earlier. Police said he was depressed and undergoing counselling.“Some of our demands have still not been accepted, including the resignations sought to fix accountability. Students even pointed to (former education minister) Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation,” said a student.“What we know so far is that they have agreed to consider the demands for compensation and an inquiry. The director signed the students’ memorandum.”Students also condemned what they described as alleged “moral profiling” of the deceased by the student affairs office, arguing that such profiling had no place in a scientific and public institution.As an immediate measure, they called for classes in Lecture Hall Complex and across the campus to be suspended Monday, saying academic activities should not continue as “business as usual” in the immediate aftermath of the death. “The system needs to take a pause,” they said.Demanding an independent investigation into alleged administrative lapses surrounding the death and accountability of officials or staff found responsible, protesters asked the competent authorities to examine whether issues such as non-allocation of housing facilities, denial of academic projects and “an unsupportive hostel administration” could cause or exacerbate mental distress in a competitive academic environment.They further sought greater transparency around IIT Delhi’s mental-health protocols, including clarity on how cases involving students in distress are handled.Pointing to what they described as a recurring pattern of student suicides on campus, protesters claimed that eight IIT Delhi students had died by suicide in the past 30 months and termed it a “systemic problem”.They sought details of measures taken by IIT to address student mental-health concerns, including implementation of recommendations made by the expert committee on students’ mental well-being.
