Student death at IIT-Kharagpur sparks calls for investigation into alleged cover-up

The Calcutta High Court on Monday, February 3 directed the West Bengal Police to provide a final report of its investigation into the death of Faizan Ahmed, a third-year student at IIT-Kharagpur. Ahmed's body was found in a hostel room at the Institute on October 14, according to PTI.

The lawyer for the father of the deceased student has accused authorities of attempting to cover up a crime. He requested that the investigation be handed over to the state CID or another agency of the court's choice. Justice Rajasekhar Mantha directed the police, represented in court by Rana Mukherjee, to file their final report on the investigation into Faizan Ahmed's death on February 20.

Justice Mantha also postponed the previously scheduled February 13 hearing for the IIT to report on their compliance with directions for student mental well-being. Instead, the institute was directed to submit this report on February 20, when the case of Salim Ahmed, the father of the deceased, will be heard again.

Meanwhile, Salim Ahmed's lawyer Ranajit Chatterjee pointed out that four months have passed since the death of the student and claimed there has not been any progress in the investigation. Further, Chatterjee submitted that it was improbable as claimed in the police report that Faizan had taken an overdose of anti-anxiety drugs, as there was no mention of such drugs or strips of it in the list of materials seized from his hostel room after the body was discovered. Additionally, Claiming that the post-mortem report was not conclusive, he alleged that Faizan's death might have resulted from violence.

On contrary, the additional SP submitted before the court that the post-mortem report does not say that the death was homicidal and stated that the door of Faizan's room was bolted from the inside. Admitting that the student had reportedly suffered ragging at one point, which was evident from a social media post of February 2022, the police, however, stated that the tragedy could not, however, be linked to that incident as Faizan died several months later in October.

Taking note of the allegations of the ragging, the court on January 21 directed the IIT-Kharagpur authorities to hold appropriate counselling sessions, starting at the ground level and said that its director will be personally responsible for implementing it. Maintaining that it is concerned about the well-being of students seeking high-level scientific and technical education, the court had said that it expects the director of IIT-Kharagpur to take stringent measures in the wake of the unnatural death of Faizan, who hailed from Tinsukia in Assam, as stated in a report by PTI.