IIT-Bombay student dies by suicide after being caught using AI; students protest

Students protest outside the IIT Bombay (Powai)

MUMBAI: A second-year student of the Department of Energy Science and Engineering died by suicide at IIT-Bombay Friday evening. According to a statement shared by the institute, the student was found using a mobile phone in the exam hall during an examination, earlier in the day on Friday.

He had uploaded the exam question paper on an AI platform to seek answers, it added.Students gathered in large numbers at the campus demanding a detailed probe into the circumstances that led to the suicide. The students alleged the authorities are not focusing on their mental health concerns.

The institute’s statement said no disciplinary action was initiated against the student. “The matter was also discussed with the student by the instructor and the head of the department, who counselled him and assured him that the incident would not adversely affect his academic career,” mentioned the statement.

It added that the student subsequently returned to his hostel room. Later in the evening, he was found dead in his room, it added.The institute, in the statement, said that they are deeply saddened by the loss of a student. “The institute is extending support to the student’s friends, classmates, faculty members, and others affected by this tragic incident. The circumstances surrounding the death are being looked into by the appropriate authorities,” it added.

The police were in the process of recording the statements of students and faculty members at the time of going to press.On July 28, a 20-year-old second-year BTech student died by suicide in his single-occupancy room in the same hostel. Police found no suicide note but seized his phone. Investigators suspected a failed relationship after finding a notebook containing a half-page note about love failure and depression.