'Having suicidal thoughts': Kin recall IIT-D student’s disturbing final week

NEW DELHI: Days before IIT Delhi MSc Physics student Rishikesh Kumar died by suicide, his family had become increasingly worried about his mental state, with his brother alleging that the 31-year-old had withdrawn from everyday activities, spoken repeatedly about being a “big loser” and told his mother that he was having suicidal thoughts.Rishikesh’s brother Abhishek Kumar said the family had noticed a sharp change in him in the week before his death and had been considering getting him medical help and counselling."

He had started feeling like a complete failure in life. For nearly a week, he had lost interest in everything. He would not properly use his mobile phone, would not work on his laptop or type anything and had abandoned almost everything," the brother said.According to Abhishek, Rishikesh repeatedly spoke to their mother about what he was going through, ANI reported." Mummy, there is so much going on inside my mind. I feel like such a big loser.

I am getting suicidal thoughts," he would tell her, according to his brother.The family alleged that Rishikesh was deeply disturbed by his interactions with the institute’s administration and had felt humiliated in the days before his death.They said these concerns should be examined as part of the inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the incident.Abhishek said the family had previously intervened when Rishikesh showed signs of wanting to harm himself and that his mother would counsel him and try to persuade him to reconsider."

He later told my mother, 'Mummy, I am such a big loser. I went there to die, but I could not even do that,'" the brother said.He added that thoughts about his mother had made Rishikesh return on earlier occasions.The family said they spoke to him at length on the night before his death and were considering taking him to a doctor again and arranging further counselling and treatment.However, the next morning, Rishikesh left the house while his mother was asleep and went to the IIT Delhi campus, the family said.The family was staying in a rented two-room accommodation after Rishikesh was allegedly not allotted hostel accommodation by the institute."

Yes, we were staying in an apartment. We had taken a two-room accommodation, where he and our mother were living. Since he was not provided hostel accommodation by the institute, we arranged this place and were staying there," Abhishek said.He also alleged that the family was informed about Rishikesh’s death by police rather than the institute." I received a call from Kishangarh police station. An SI called and informed me that my brother had died by suicide," he said."

We did not receive any information from the university. Nobody from the university came to visit us or contacted us. Whatever we came to know about the incident, we learned through the police station." The family has sought a detailed inquiry and accountability, saying they want measures to ensure other students do not face similar circumstances." Our only demand is that there should be a proper inquiry and accountability, so that what happened to my brother does not happen to anyone else.

Today, it is my brother; tomorrow, it could be somebody else's brother or another student," he said." Students come to such a prestigious institution with dreams they have carried since childhood. They make enormous sacrifices to reach a place like IIT. We do not want any other student to go through such circumstances or for such a tragedy to happen again." Rishikesh’s death triggered protests at the IIT Delhi campus, with students demanding an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding his death.IIT Delhi subsequently constituted a five-member External Inquiry Committee.

According to IIT sources, the committee includes former Uttarakhand Director General of Police and IIT Delhi alumnus Ashok Kumar and AIIMS New Delhi’s Department of Psychiatry head Prof Pratap Sharma, among others.The committee was formed a day after hundreds of students gathered on campus demanding a probe into the death.The family’s allegations about Rishikesh’s mental state, his interactions with the institute and the events preceding his death are expected to be examined as part of the inquiry.(

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