PhD student at IIT-Kanpur hangs herself in hostel room

Kanpur: A 29-year-old PhD student at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, allegedly ended her life by hanging herself from the ceiling fan of her room here on Thursday, police said.

This was the third case of suicide at the IIT-Kanpur campus in a month.

A native of Jharkhand’s Dumka, Priyanka Jaiswal, who was pursuing a PhD in Chemical engineering, got admission to the institute on December 29 last year.

Talking to news agency over the phone, Additional DCP (West) Akash Patel said they received information about the suicide around 1 pm. Upon reaching the spot, they found the door of

Jaiswal’s room was locked from inside and broke it open to find her body hanging from the ceiling fan.

A forensic team has been called to the spot, Patel said. Jaiswal’s hostel mates had informed IIT-Kanpur authorities who later called the police.

Possible reasons behind Jaiswal’s suicide will only be revealed after a preliminary probe and completing other formalities, the DCP said.

In a statement, IIT-Kanpur said, ‘With profound grief, IIT Kanpur mourns the untimely and unfortunate demise of a PhD student Priyanka Jaiswal, who joined the Department of Chemical

Engineering of the Institute last month (December 2023). She was found dead in her hostel room this afternoon.’