IIT-Guwahati student died of heart failure, says autopsy report

GUWAHATI: The BTech fourth-year student of Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT-G) hailing from Nagpur in Maharashtra, whose body was recovered by police from his hostel room on Monday, died of 'chronic coronary insufficiency', authorities said quoting autopsy report.
"It is with deep regret that IIT Guwahati shares the unfortunate news of the death of a male student on campus on 9th January 2023. The student was found dead on his bed in his room. The institute has cooperated with the police authorities and the autopsy report has confirmed 'Chronic Coronary Insufficiency' as the cause of death," the institute said in an statement issued on Tuesday evening.
"Chronic coronary insufficiency reduces the blood supply to the heart muscles and causes heart failure," Dr Pranabjyoti Bhattacharyya, professor and head of cardiology department at Guwahati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) said. The autopsy was conducted at the hospital on Tuesday.
"We cannot say he was feeling academic pressure because the boy was sound in studies. He had his friends in the institute and no one harassed him as per our reports. It was a single-room where he was residing with full privacy," said the official.
Police have also ruled out a homicide angle. "We were not suspecting any foul play in the death of the BTech student yesterday because he was found in a normal sleeping position, draped in a blanket," said Amingaon police outpost, Tanmoy Nath. The family members of the student, whose identity has not been revealed by IIT-G following guidelines from Supreme Court, arrived here on Tuesday.
Monday's incident was the fourth death reported in the premier institute in last six months. Three of these deaths were by suicide-two by students and one faculty member.
A 22-year old student from the institute's design department was found hanging in his room in September. He hailed from Kerala. Police said no suicide note was found from his possession. Next month, another 20-year-old former IIT Guwahati student, who was allegedly terminated from his course for "poor academic performance" was also found hanging in one of the hostel buildings.
In December, a 47-year-old assistant professor, from mathematics department of the institute, committed suicide by hanging himself from a ceiling fan in his quarter. Police said the room was locked from inside and there was no scope to suspect anybody else for his death.
Monday's incident has come as an eye-opener for the institute to put more emphasis on fostering mental wellness and healthy lifestyle of the IIT-G community.
The institute is developing a mentorship program involving senior students and faculty members for the first-year students to help them adjust in a new environment and help them to overcome their academic and personal problems. "Unless we can motivate the freshers for a healthy completion, stress is obvious at a later stage," an IIT-G official said.
Every fresher during registration now has to fill up a declaration form which is confidential, and it remains with the counsellors. "The students who have an issue related to mental wellbeing are supported by the counsellors from the day they join the institute," he added.