IIT Kanpur assistant professor, two others booked in student death case on court orders

The two other accused are a woman research scholar and her mother, it is learnt.

No arrest has been made in the case so far. Ankit was pursuing his PhD under the guidance of the accused assistant professor in the chemistry department of the institute.

Kalyanpur Station House Officer (SHO) Sudhir Kumar said investigation into the case has began and a suicide note purportedly written by the victim is being examined.

According to the police, Ramsoorat Yadav, a resident of Azamgarh, alleged that his son Ankit was emotionally manipulated and financially exploited by the fellow woman scholar. Under pressure from her, Ankit gave her Rs 50,000, which he availed through a personal loan, he claimed. Ramsoorat claimed that when he confronted them after coming to know of the matter, the woman and her mother returned the money and assured that Ankit would not be troubled again.

The complainant alleged the two started blackmailing Ankit again— threatening to ruin his future by leaking objectionable photos and videos of him and filing false police complaints against him.

They also allegedly took back Rs 50,000 and started demanding more money from him.

The duo then influenced the assistant professor, who began subjecting Ankit to mental harassment — keeping him in the laboratory for extended hours without reason, denying him food, and publicly humiliating him, Yadav alleged.

When Ankit said he could no longer bear the pressure and was unable to pay any more money, the two allegedly threatened to falsely implicate him in legal cases, it was alleged.

They asked him to pay Rs 5 lakh or end his life, the complainant alleged.

Ankit’s body was found in his hostel room on February 10 after breaking open the door by his friends. The police claimed to have recovered a suicide note in which the victim did not blame anyone.

The police also cited Ramsoorat’s complaint saying the victim had spoken to his mother over the phone the same morning and talked about being harassed by the assistant professor and woman researcher even as he expressed no intention of committing suicide.