IIT-Madras research scholar's suicide: Five-member inquiry committee formed

CHENNAI: IIT-Madras on Tuesday formed a five-member inquiry panel headed by former DGP G Thilakavathi to probe the March 31 suicide of research scholar Sachin Kumar Jain.
Students had protested on the campus alleging that harassment of faculty member had led to the suicide. They had demanded external inquiry.
"With the approval of the competent authority, an inquiry committee has been constituted to inquire into the suicide of a PhD scholar of the mechanical engineering department on March 31. The committee headed by G Thilakavathi also has former IAS officers D Sabitha, Kannegi Packianathan and professor Ravindra Gettu (faculty) and Amal Manoharan (research scholar) as members," an email from the registrar to the students on Tuesday said.
"The students who would like to depose before the committee can contact the member (research scholar), and faculty can contact the member (faculty). The committee will submit its confidential report to the director of IIT-Madras," the registrar said in the mail.
Alleging that Sachin had been harassed by professor Ashish Kumar Sen of the mechanical engineering department, his brother Bhawesh Kumar Jain, in his complaint to the institution, sought a detailed inquiry. The Joint Action Committee (JAC) also submitted a memorandum to the IIT-M director demanding an unbiased inquiry into the suicide and inclusion of external members and suspension of the guide's research and academic activities during the probe.
Earlier, the IIT-Madras administration had restrained Ashish Kumar Sen of the mechanical engineering department from visiting the lab till the investigation is complete.