A third-year mechanical engineering student from Gujarat was found dead at IIT Kharagpur on Saturday morning. His death is the seventh on the campus in 15 months.

Police suspect Jayveersinh Dodiya, 21, jumped to his death from the seventh-floor terrace of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hall of Residence. Dodiya did not stay in the hostel. He was from Nehru Hall, about 2km away from where he was found.

An officer from the local Hijli police outpost who visited the campus early on Saturday said Dodiya had cycled to Vajpayee Hall and taken the lift to the top floor. He is believed to have fallen between 9am and 10am.

West Midnapore district superintendent of police Papia Sultana said CCTV footage showed the student jump.

“We received information about the incident around 9.20am. CCTV footage revealed that the deceased, who is from Ghuma in Gujarat, was alone when he went to the
terrace on the top floor of the hall of residence and jumped. No suicide note was found on him. We have yet to know the reasons for his death.
The hall of residence has CCTV cameras on the seventh-floor terrace,” Sultana told Metro. Ghuma is in West Ahmedabad.

“We are trying to ascertain whether he went to meet anyone at the Vajpayee Hall. We are also investigating how he accessed the terrace, as the door is supposed to be locked,” the officer said.

Dodiya’s family members are on their way, and the post-mortem will be conducted on Sunday after his parents arrive, police said.

Dodiya stayed in Room No. C126 at Nehru Hall.

IIT Kharagpur director Suman Chakraborty, who is from the mechanical engineering department, said in a text message that he was “shattered” by the death.

Dodiya’s death is the seventh since January 2025.

On December 8, 2025, IIT research scholar Shravan Kumar, 26, was found unconscious with multiple injuries near the railway tracks near Kharagpur railway station. He died the same day.

On September 20, first-year PhD scholar Harsh Kumar Pandey, 26, from Ranchi, was found hanging in his hostel room at the BR Ambedkar Hall.

On July 18, Ritam Mondal, 21, a fourth-year student, was found hanging in his room at the Rajendra Prasad Hall.

The frequent deaths have raised concerns among students and families over the absence of a strong campus mechanism to address mental health and academic stress.

Nadim Quamar, elder brother of Md Asif Quamar, who died on campus in May 2025, said the incidents indicate inadequate action. “How else could this go on? I doubt that they investigate the deaths seriously,” Nadim said on Saturday.

This newspaper reported on December 30, 2025, that a survey by a student platform at IIT Kharagpur, conducted after a series of deaths, revealed “significant gaps in the emotional support available to students”. The survey was conducted by Awaaz, a student media body on campus.

On Saturday, the institute said students are being encouraged to use campus support services.

“As the campus community mourns this irreparable loss, students are encouraged to use the Institute’s counselling and support services, which are available round the clock, should they require emotional support,” the IIT said in a press release.

Director Chakraborty said in a text message to Metro: that while interventions had been made, “the challenge still remains”.

“The challenge still remains if a matter of mental distress is not reported...Even if some closest friend or family knew, it was not percolated subsequently. Such disconnection might have cost a precious life,” he wrote.

Chakraborty added: “We earnestly appeal to all — if any such signal is detected, let that be reported promptly through any of these radars. Otherwise, these will remain undetected signals no matter whatever robust system of addressing student wellbeing is developed Institutionally.”