IIT Kanpur research scholar found hanging at hostel, suicide suspected

KANPUR: In a tragic incident, a research scholar at IIT Kanpur was found dead by cleaning staff on Tuesday. The 34-year-old was found hanging from the ceiling fan of her hostel room. The research scholar has been identified as Pallavi Chilka, a native of Odisha’s Cuttack. According to sources, the woman had joined the IIT to pursue her postdoctoral research.

Her body was recovered when the cleaning staff knocked her room’s door and found no response. When the staff peeped inside, she was found hanging by a fan in her second-floor hostel room. Following which, police were alerted when they reached the spot and broke open the door and brought her down. Police are probing different angles in her death, including suicide. Police said preliminary investigation suggested depression to be the cause behind the suicide. The exact reason behind her death is awaited.

Chilka had recently shifted to RA hostel from a private rented accommodation, reported news agency PTI quoting Kalyanpur SHO Dhananjay Pandey as saying.

The Institute expressed grief over the scholar’s death.  "A promising young researcher, Chilka, joined the Institute to pursue her postdoctoral research. She was found dead in her hostel room on 19th December," the press release stated as reported by news agency PTI.

The Odisha woman worked as a researcher at the Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering of the institute. Currently, the tragic incident is under investigation and the report from the forensic team is awaited. 

In a separate incident, a student at a private university allegedly took his life by jumping off the hostel building. The incident took place at Subharti University's  hostel in Meerut at around 11.45 pm on Sunday.