Odisha Girl Student Dies by Suicide at IIT Hyderabad, Family Alleges Ragging – News18

A student of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad was found hanging in her hostel room. The deceased identified as Mamita Nayak hailing from Dumburi village under Biramaharajpur block of Subarnapur district had joined the MTech programme first year last month on July 26. The IIT authority informed about the incident to her family members.

As per reports, Mamita’s batchmates found her hanging from the ceiling fan and alerted the hostel authorities. A suicide letter was found in her room. In the letter, Mamita wrote that she was taking extreme steps due to mental stress.

On the other hand family members suspect the incident and raised questions about it. Why did she take the extreme step during the 10 days of hostel life in IIT Hyderabad? Police have seized a suicide note in which she wrote she was in mental stress for the last six months.

Notably, Mamita was the only girl child of Dukhishyam Naik of Dumur village. Family members now alleged murder. She was a scholar student and was very intellectual and took care of all of my family members. “We are in doubt that she killed herself. She was killed after ragging,” said Mamita’s sister Sangita Naik. “She talked over the telephone last week. She was normal. She loved us so much. She has been killed,” Sangita added.

According to the education ministry, IITs have reported the highest number of student suicide cases in the last five years. According to data shared by the education ministry with the Rajya Sabha, from 2018 to 2023, at least 39 out of 98 deaths by suicide took place at IIITs, followed by 25 each at NITs and centrally-funded universities. Another 13 such deaths were reported from AIIMS from 2019 till date.

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