Bengaluru engineering student jumps to death from college building

In a death note Jayanth K Reddy left behind, he said he was under depression and was in mental pain every day

A 21-year-old engineering student allegedly jumped to death from the seventh floor of his college building on Monday morning due to depression.

Jayanth K Reddy, a resident of Doddabommasandra, was a third-semester computer science student at Bangalore Institute of Technology (BIT).

Finding Jayanth lying in a pool of blood at 9.20 am, staff and students rushed him to KIMS Hospital.

Preliminary investigations by the police revealed that Jayanth went to college to submit his lab reports. At 8.30 am, he climbed up to the seventh floor. When fellow students urged him to get down, Jayanth told them he would come down after some time.

Death note

In a death note he left behind, Jayanth said he was under depression and was in mental pain every day. He was looking for an exit and was bidding goodbye. Jayanth said he wanted to do many things but was not able to.

“Based on the death note, a case of unnatural death has been registered and further investigations are on,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Harish Pandey said.

Son of businessman Subramanya Reddy, Jayanth was reportedly undergoing counselling for depression the past year.

Soon after the incident, jurisdictional VV Puram police swung into implementing security measures and convinced the students who sat on protest to call back their agitation. An autopsy was performed at KIMS Hospital.

The college management alerted Jayanth’s parents about the incident. They later filed a police complaint. Jayanth did not mention any names or blame the institute for his decision to end his life. A senior officer said the precise reason for his death is yet to be determined. Police have ruled out examinations as a reason at this stage of the investigation.

Subramanya said Jayanth left for college at 7 am after finishing breakfast. He used to take the metro to college following the resumption of regular classes. Jayanth did not inform his parents of his problems, though he was studying till 2 am every day. His parents advised him not to stress out so much.

Subramanya said neither he nor his family members have anything against the institute.

Students’ protest

After Jayanth’s death, a large number of students staged a protest accusing the institute of not completing the portions and not giving them adequate time to prepare for the exams. They told the press that they had asked the management for additional time to prepare for the exams, but the institute had rejected their requests.

The college authorities said Jayanth was admitted in 2020 through lateral entry and did not appear for exams. He got readmitted this year. He had secured 91% in the diploma course.

‘No connection to exams or college’

College principal Dr Ashwath M U told DH that the death had no connection to examinations or to the college. “No exams were scheduled for the third-semester students,” he said. “We got the timetable for the third-semester courses on Monday after the incident.”