Doctoral student found hanging in IISc hostel

A PhD scholar reportedly committed suicide in his hostel room on the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) campus on the intervening night of April 29 and 30.

Ameya Manoj Chutke, from Pratap Nagar, Nagpur, was found hanging when his hostel mate Ajinkya came checking up on him after he failed to return phone calls. This was after April 29 midnight. A shocked Ajinkya informed the hostel authorities who alerted the IISc management who, in turn, called the jurisdictional Sadashivanagar police.

Police said Chutke used a plastic rope to hang himself from the ceiling fan. There was no suicide note on his person or in the room. His phone log showed that the last call he made was to his mother around 8.30 pm on April 29, which lasted until about 9 pm, an investigating officer said.

Chutke studied MTech in the Department of Computer Science and Automation at the IISc from 2017 to 2019 and enrolled for the PhD programme this year. He was an introvert and kept to himself, police said, quoting his hostel mates.

Police have learnt that Chutke was being treated for depression at Nimhans as well as at a hospital on the IISc campus. They have reviewed his medical records.

Chutke's parents arrived from Nagpur on April 30 and took the body after a post-mortem was conducted at the MS Ramaiah Hospital.