IISc research student found dead at hostel

The officer added that the student was 'allegedly suffering from a mental illness (disorder)' and he was under medication to overcome the problem

A PhD student at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), who students said was battling depression for some time, died on Sunday due to a suspected overdose of his medicines.

Rajarshi Bhattacharya, from IISc’s Department of Organic Chemistry and a native of Kolkata in West Bengal, was found dead at his hostel room. He was a third-year PhD student.

As per preliminary investigations, police determined that Rajarshi, who sources said was in his 20s, was found dead by his hostel mates. They alerted the security officer on duty and then informed the police.

“When we reached the spot, Rajarshi Bhattacharya was already dead. We didn’t find a death note in his room,” said an investigating officer from the Sadashivanagar police station.

The officer added that Rajarshi was “allegedly suffering from a mental illness (disorder) and he was under medication to overcome the problem. We suspect he overdosed on the medicines.

“But whether he killed himself or suffered an accidental overdose is yet to be verified. Prima facie, it looks like a case of killing himself,” the officer said.

Police have handed over the body to his family following a post-mortem.

“His viscera sample has been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and we are awaiting the post-mortem report,” another officer said.

A case of unnatural death has been registered.

Sources said this is at least the fourth student death at the prestigious institute this year.

4th student death this year

In a bid to help students tackle mental and psychological challenges, IISc had started a student counselling service and a peer support group made up of student
volunteers.

Students, however, said that IISc’s wellness centre needs to be proactive. “The wellness centre is not at all proactive and it is largely a faceless and voiceless organisation. The mantra of the centre is that if students have a problem the onus is on them to approach the centre, even though we are not living in normal times,”
a student said.

‘Isolated place’

They added that the campus, in the absence of a large part of the student body due to the pandemic, has become an isolating space.

“Many students feel there is no support network on campus,” a student said, noting that students had even organised a group discussion on September 10 on the occasion of “Suicide Prevention Awareness Day”.

Another student noted that the administration’s imposition of stringent Covid-19 regulations had turned the campus “practically into a jail”. “That’s why we had petitioned the administration to relax some of the restrictions.”