A 21-year-old student at the prestigious IIT-Kharagpur was discovered dead in his hostel room yesterday morning. Shawn Malik, a third-year student of Electrical Engineering, was residing in the Azad Hall of Residence. His parents, who had come to meet just like they do every Sunday, found his body when they couldn't get any response from him.

According to officials of IIT-Kharagpur, Malik's parents, assisted by the institute's security guards, had to break open the door to his room. It is still unclear why Malik took his life, and no suicide note was recovered from the place of his death. "The boy's parents came to meet him with food. Like they do every Sunday. They were the first to see the body hanging," said IIT-Kharagpur Director Amit Patra. He added that Malik was a brilliant student and had good relations with his teachers.

The police have opened an investigation into Malik's death. His body has been sent to Medinipur Medical College for autopsy. A senior police officer confirmed that the post-mortem process was videographed, and the inquiry is in progress. Director Patra mentioned that there was no evidence of foul play and no connection to a recent unrelated death of a lab assistant on campus.

The tragic death is the latest in a series of student deaths on the IIT-Kharagpur campus. Another student, Devika Pillai, was found dead in June 2024. Then, in October 2023, K Kiran Chandra, a fourth-year Electrical Engineering student, was found dead. As recently as in 2022, another student, Faizan Ahmed, died under similar circumstances.