IIT Guwahati mourns student’s death as police probe continues
New Delhi: A third year BTech student at IIT Guwahati was found dead on the campus on Sunday afternoon. The student has been identified as Ritesh Raj Singh who was from Puri in Odisha. He was studying Computer Science and Engineering and was staying at the Brahmaputra Hostel. Police suspect that the case may be a suicide.
According to police the student allegedly jumped from the fifth floor of a campus building at around 2:30 pm on July 26. IIT Guwahati said it is fully cooperating with the police investigation and will share more information only after the inquiry is completed and the findings are available. The initial investigation found that Singh had recently secured an internship with Goldman Sachs and was known to be a bright student. He was also serving as the competitive programming head of the Coding Club at IIT Guwahati.
Campus in mourning as director addresses students
On Sunday evening IIT Guwahati Director Professor Devendra Jalihal sent an email to students informing them about the death of Ritesh Raj Singh. In the message he expressed deep sadness over the loss and said the passing of the third year Computer Science and Engineering student was a huge loss for the entire IIT Guwahati family.
The email informed students about the student’s death but did not mention the cause or include any details about the ongoing police investigation. Ritesh Raj Singh’s body has been sent to Guwahati Medical College for a post mortem examination. His parents are travelling to Guwahati following the incident.
Social media speculation grows amid probe
Meanwhile a discussion on Reddit has drawn attention after users shared claims about events that may have taken place before his death. According to a thread titled ‘Does anyone know what happened at IIT Guwahati today’, Singh was allegedly caught appearing as a proxy for a friend during an online internship assessment. The posts also claimed that he had a CGPA of more than 9 and had already secured an internship offer from Goldman Sachs.
Some users further alleged that Professor John Jose had warned Singh that the matter would be referred to the Student Disciplinary Committee. One Reddit comment also claimed that the professor had a history of strongly warning students about disciplinary action. These claims have surfaced on social media but have not been officially confirmed.
Institute appeals for patience as probe continues
IIT Guwahati has not responded to the claims circulating on social media. In its official statement the institute appealed to people not to believe rumours and asked everyone to avoid making assumptions until the facts are confirmed through the investigation. The claims shared online have not been independently verified and the institute has not yet issued any detailed response on the matter.
IIT Guwahati also said it remains committed to supporting the mental health and well being of its students. It said students have access to licensed counsellors and psychiatrists through the SAATHI Counselling Club and the Centre for Holistic Wellbeing including round the clock online counselling services. The institute also recorded four student suicide cases during 2024.
(Curated by: Amber Rashid Shah)