IIT-Delhi on Tuesday evening agreed to change the composition of the committee that will inquire into the death by suicide of a Masters’ student, bowing to the demand of students who have been protesting on campus since Sunday.
In a statement, IIT-D said Rishikesh Kumar, who was studying for an MSc in physics, was an “academically bright student” who had been treated for a mental health condition at a specialised hospital, and whose requests for withdrawal from both the January-May and July-November semesters had been approved by the institute.
The protests began after the 31-year-old student allegedly jumped to his death from the sixth floor of a building on campus on Saturday.
On Tuesday, day 3 of the agitation, more than 500 students protested inside the Lecture Hall Complex at the institute, with another 2,000 gathered outside. The gates of the institute were secured, and no technical staff, visitors, or family members of students were allowed inside.
Through the previous night, students had held a candlelight vigil on campus. On Tuesday, before the administration conceded their demand on the inquiry committee, they had announced another night of protests and candlelight marches.
Students have stayed away from most classes since Monday. On Tuesday, the administration used megaphones to advise them that continued absence from classrooms could create difficulties in their course work.
The ongoing mobilisation is unusual at IIT-D, one of India’s most celebrated educational institutions. Students are demanding accountability for what they say is the eighth suicide of a student on campus since 2023, and have refused to be pacified by the response from the institute.
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“How are we expected to continue as though nothing has happened? There has been a death by suicide in this building. No suicide is a singular event. It happens because many things accumulate,” a protester said.
Students have demanded the resignation of four IIT officials, an independent inquiry into Rishikesh’s death, and compensation of at least Rs 1 crore for his family. In response, the administration announced an inquiry and financial assistance for the student’s family, but did not agree to the demands for resignations and a specific compensation.
At a meeting convened at the Lecture Hall Complex at 11.30 pm on Monday, the students rejected the administration’s response as “inadequate and evasive”, and announced that the protest would continue.
On Tuesday morning, IIT-D Director Rangan Banerjee said that the External Inquiry Committee would investigate the “circumstances leading to the tragedy” of Rishikesh’s death.
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“The committee will discuss with relevant students, faculty and the concerned administrative offices, review protocols and processes, and make recommendations. The committee will be requested to complete its report within two weeks,” Banerjee said.
The five-member inquiry panel comprised Ashok Kumar, the vice chancellor of the Sports University of Haryana who is an IIT-D alumnus and a former police chief of Uttarakhand; Pratap Sharma, head of the Department of Psychiatry at AIIMS, New Delhi; two student representatives, and the IIT-D Registrar who would be the secretary and convener of the committee.
But at their late-night meeting on Monday, the students objected to the presence of the former Uttarakhand DGP on the panel, saying he had earlier linked protests by students to “radicalisation” and “digital terrorism”.
In a resolution passed at the meeting, the students demanded that the inquiry committee should be headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court or a High Court. Also, the resolution said, the two student members on the panel should be “nominated collectively and publicly by the protesting students”.
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Following talks between the IIT-D administration and a six-member student delegation at the Director’s office in the main building, the institute agreed to change the composition of the inquiry committee. The students will suggest alternative names to the administration by Friday.
On the protesters’ demand for financial assistance, Director Banerjee said on Tuesday morning: “We will work towards providing financial support for Rishikesh’s family by reimbursing medical expenses and providing funding from the benevolent fund. Additionally we will also create a separate fund with voluntary contributions from faculty, students and staff to help the family.”
He said the institute planned to appoint an external Ombudsperson to address any grievances that were not addressed by IIT’s internal systems. For students with mental health issues who need parental support, the institute would “create an additional support system of a faculty and student mentor”.
Banerjee said Rishikesh had joined the MSc Physics programme in July 2025, and had been staying at Shivalik Hostel. He had a “very good academic performance” in his first semester, the Director said.
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In its official release, the institute said Rishikesh had been referred to the IIT Delhi Hospital a few days after Holi after other students raised some concerns. “He was assessed and supported by the Institute Psychiatrist, following which his family informed that they want to take him to a specialised hospital. Thereafter, he underwent approximately one month of inpatient treatment at the specialised hospital before being discharged,” the release said.
According to IIT-D, Rishikesh subsequently requested withdrawal from the second semester (Jan-May 2026), which was approved by the institute.
“In July 2026, his health records were reviewed, and medical advice was again given that he should continue to remain under parental supervision. He was provided counselling and treatment support by the institute counsellor/ doctor in both July and August 2026. His request for withdrawal from the third semester (July-Nov 2026) was also approved by the institute,” it said in the statement.
The Monday night resolution by students demanded a “transparent” disclosure of “all established protocols” on student mental health. It rejected the faculty-and-student mentor system proposed by the institute in an email sent earlier, and said what students needed was “access to peers, fair academic opportunities, and a supportive, empathetic campus”.
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On a hallway chalkboard inside the Lecture Hall Complex on Tuesday, someone had scrawled in all-caps the students’ core demands: “INVESTIGATION, RESIGNATION, COMPENSATION”. There was a reminder that eight deaths had occurred in 30 months, and that “WE ARE STUDENTS, NOT COGS IN YOUR MACHINE”.
A student who said he knew Rishikesh closely said, “People are charged up right now. There is no need for any leadership, students are organising organically.”
No student was willing to speak on the record; they cited disciplinary rules, the fear of repercussions, and the fact that many PhD scholars were dependent on government funding. Several protesters claimed they had been advised not to speak to reporters.
A number of students complained of an unsympathetic and unforgiving atmosphere on the competitive campus full of high achievers. “Whenever we try to talk about problems, we are told, ‘You should leave if you can’t cope.’ There is an absence of empathy,” a student said.
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An IIT-D alumna of the 2022 batch told The Indian Express: “This kind of protest is unheard of on campus. But the administration was apathetic even in my time. There were attempts at suicide by two students, which were taken casually,” she said.
