Mother Recounts Last Call From IIT Delhi Student Before Campus Suicide
NEW DELHI — The mother of IIT Delhi student Rishikesh Kumar said her 31-year-old son told her he was in deep emotional pain a day
NEW DELHI — The mother of IIT Delhi student Rishikesh Kumar said her 31-year-old son told her he was in deep emotional pain a day before he died by suicide on campus on August 22. His family says he had been struggling with academic and accommodation-related problems, while the institute has ordered an external inquiry.
Rishikesh, an MSc Physics student at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, was taken to the campus hospital after his death was reported. Doctors declared him brought dead, according to police. No suicide note was found, and investigators have seized a mobile phone recovered from his pocket for examination.
‘Mummy, I am hurting’
In an account shared with reporters, his mother, Asha Poddar, said Rishikesh broke down during a conversation on the night before his death. He spoke of intense distress and suicidal thoughts, she said, even while telling her he was afraid of taking such a step.
“He cried a lot and told me, ‘Mummy, I am hurting a lot. I am even afraid of suicide; I would no...’” she recalled, describing a painful final exchange that has now become central to the family’s account of what led to his death.
The family has said Rishikesh had been receiving treatment for mental health concerns. They have also alleged that problems linked to his studies and living arrangements weighed on him in the run-up to his death.
Inquiry under way
Police have not said whether those complaints are part of the formal investigation, but the absence of a suicide note has left officers relying on the phone and other evidence collected from the scene. The case has now moved beyond the immediate campus response and into a wider probe.
IIT Delhi has ordered an external inquiry, according to available reports, a step likely to bring added scrutiny to how the institute handled support systems, student welfare and accommodation concerns. For India’s elite engineering schools, where academic pressure can be intense and living conditions often become part of the stress load, the case will resonate well beyond one campus.
Suicide among university students has remained a painful issue in India and elsewhere, prompting repeated calls for stronger mental health support, quicker intervention and more responsive campus counselling. In this case, the final conversation remembered by his mother has sharpened the focus on whether warning signs were heard in time.
Police continue to examine the phone found on Rishikesh’s body. No further details have been released.
