Ranchi: The exams were only midway but 19-year-old Aditya Kumar had already booked his ticket to his hometown in Bhagalpur, Bihar. He was due to leave on 17 October, a day after his first-year examinations ended. But on 10 October, before he could sit for his third paper, Aditya died by suicide.
After his Class 12 state board exams, Aditya had spent three years preparing to get into a good college. He eventually secured admission in the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Ranchi.
“Aditya was very stressed about his exams. He told us that his first two exams had not gone well. In one, of the total 30 marks, he could attempt questions worth only 10 marks, and in the other, just four marks. We knew he was under pressure, but we did not realise it was affecting him this much. Had we known, we would have tried to do something to help him,” claimed a first-year student, who was Aditya’s hostel mate and helped carry his body down five flights of stairs on the day of the incident. A first-year B.Tech student in computer science and engineering, Aditya belonged to the Dalit community.
Aditya’s death by suicide has opened a can of worms brought years of student grievances at IIIT Ranchi, triggering student protests and raising questions about the institute’s emergency medical facilities, hostel conditions, academic stress and student support systems. Students have demanded the resignation of the institute’s director Prof. Rajeev Srivastava, accountability for the alleged delay in medical assistance, and a permanent college building. The Union Ministry of Education on 12 October ordered an inquiry and constituted a three-member committee to examine the circumstances leading to Aditya’s death and the institute’s handling of student welfare.
“His room was on the fifth floor and there was a power cut, so the lift was not working. We had to carry him down to the ground floor. The caretaker was asking us not to touch the body when we were giving him CPR,” claimed a first-year student, who helped bring Kumar downstairs.
According to his friends, Aditya had been worried that he would not be able to maintain an 8 CGPA. They said they tried to reassure Kumar, telling him that these were only his first-year exams and that he should not take so much pressure.
But there was little clarity on where someone struggling with academic stress could turn for help. Although the institute says it has a two-member committee to address such concerns, students claimed they had not been informed about it and were unaware of how to seek support. The institute’s student counselling arrangements and grievance redressal mechanisms are now among the issues, that students say, require strict scrutiny.
Their complaints go beyond academic pressure. Students say frequent power cuts, poor and unhygienic food in the mess, inadequate transport, and the lack of a permanent campus have made life difficult. They also raised concerns about unnecessary fines. Students claimed that there was no electricity for four hours a day before their first exam.
These grievances culminated into a three-day-long protest at the IIIT Ranchi campus, starting 11 October. The same day, Lt Gen (retd) AK Bhatt, institute’s Board of Governors chairman, met the protesters, who sought concrete action rather than hollow assurances.
“We have heard the students’ issues, and corrective measures are being taken. We are in touch with them. A counsellor will be deployed, and students will be informed about everything,” Bhatt, who is investigating the matter, told ThePrint.
Four days after Aditya’s death, Srivastava was sent on 30 days’ voluntary leave amid the continuing unrest. Meanwhile the college administration allegedly asked the students to leave the campus and return after Diwali.
‘Jaldi aa jaaiye’
For Vishnu Dev Kumar, it was an ordinary night. He spoke to his son, Aditya, over a video call at around 10.10 pm on 10 October. He knew his son was a little upset about his examinations. He asked Aditya if everything was alright, if he needed money, or if there was anything troubling him. He even offered to come to Ranchi if Aditya wanted him there.
It was a usual conversation, Vishnu Dev recalled. His son told him that his exams would continue until 16 October and that he had booked his train ticket for the next day.
A little over an hour later, at around 11.30 pm, the phone rang again.
“Main IIIT Ranchi se bol raha hu, aap jaldi Ranchi aa jayie. Mis-happening ho gayi hai (I am calling from IIIT Ranchi, please come to Ranchi as soon as possible. There has been a mishap),” someone on the other end of the line said. “Mere ladke ko kuch hua hai kya (has something happened to my son)?” Kumar asked. But the call ended before he received a response.
Kumar immediately took out his bike, called two of his relatives and took the next train from Bhagalpur to Ranchi. When Vishnu Dev Kumar reached Ranchi’s Mandika Hospital, he finally saw Aditya. But the sight shook him. “My whole world shattered after seeing his lifeless body,” he said.
Desperate to know what happened to his son in the hour after he spoke to him last, Vishnu Dev went straight to his son’s hostel room. Aditya’s notebook was lying on his bed, his laptop was open.
“I wanted to carry with me everything that Aditya touched for the last time, the conversations he had and whatever he felt,” said Vishnu Dev. He even felt the gamchha Aditya used to end his life.
The moment
It was a usual night in the hostel at the Khelgaon housing complex, where IIIT Ranchi students are temporarily put up. A few students were preparing for their exam the next day while others were simply playing games on their mobile phones. It was past 10 when the power got cut, and the hostellers hooted in unison, a popular ritual in student hostels. It was exactly 10:48pm when Chhotu, a 20-year-old student heard screams. They were calling for help to break the door to Aditya’s room. At 10:55pm, when the students broke open the door, they saw Aditya had ended his life.
Six students lifted Aditya’s body. “We stopped near the lift but the power was gone so we had to carry him down five floors,” claimed Chhotu.
Even as Aditya’s body lay on the floor, and students were giving him CPR, the hostel caretaker present at the spot allegedly asked them not to touch the body. The students then hurried to look for the ambulance, which is supposed to be stationed at the hostel premises. When they eventually found it, the driver was not there.
“We had to go look for the driver, when we found him, the vehicle’s key wasn’t there. We had to find the keys. In the process we wasted around 10-12 critical minutes, that delayed the medical treatment,” alleged one of the students, who carried the body down. He further alleged that the ambulance was in bad shape, with no oxygen and the stretcher wasn’t coming out.
Before Aditya joined IIIT Ranchi, he prepared for two years through Aakash Institute in Bhagalpur, and another year preparing through Physics Wallah. He secured admission on 18 August and had been living in the hostel for the last two months.
“It was not loneliness or sadness; Aditya had been living away from home for the last three years. He had complained about the institute’s management and the quality of food, telling us that the facilities did not match the fees we were giving. He had also spoken about his exams. He was only 19. He had his whole life ahead of him,” said Vishnu Dev.
The Khelgaon Police have registered an unnatural death case, and said the case could be converted into an FIR if the investigation indicates any wrongdoing.
“We haven’t found any suicide note. We are investigating the matter and will take action accordingly,” said the police officer investigating the matter, requesting anonymity.
Vishnu Dev, however, wants the circumstances of Aditya’s death to be investigated independently and is even considering approaching the court against IIIT Ranchi’s management.
“Hum chahte hain ki nishpaksh jaanch ho. Police se bharosa uth gaya hai, ab court se ummeed hai (I want an impartial investigation. I have lost faith in the police; but I have hopes from the court,” he said.
A campus still out of reach
For students at the IIIT Ranchi, the problems begin closer to home.
Ten years after it opened, the institute still does not have a functional permanent campus. Classes are held at the temporary BSNL ARTTC campus in Getlatu. Before shifting there, classes were held at the Jharkhand University of Technology (JUT), in Ranchi. For accommodation, the institute has put up its students in the Khel Gaon housing complex, where hundreds of government officials reside.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for IIIT Ranchi’s new academic and administrative building on 15 November 2023. The new campus, which is 80 percent complete, is being built at Sanga village in Kanke, Ranchi. The permanent campus, planned across 55 acres, was estimated to be built at a cost of Rs 128 crore. It was meant to have academic and administrative buildings, hostels, faculty housing and other facilities.
But students claimed that when they looked up the institute online, its website promised a very different picture.
“I saw pictures of a big building, newly painted in peach and orange. But every day, we go to the BSNL building, which does not have many facilities. We need our own campus. If we had one, many of these problems might not have occurred in the first place,” said a second-year student, requesting anonymity.
The institute’s July 2025 newsletter describes the proposed campus as having advanced infrastructure, dedicated research facilities, academic blocks, student hostels and recreational spaces. Its placement page also says the permanent campus would be functioning by 2025. That deadline has passed but the institute continues to describe construction as ongoing. This has left students shuttling between their temporary hostels and makeshift classrooms with inadequate facilities.
“The matter is in court. The contractor ran away; nobody can do anything about this. It was supposed to be completed in 2024,” said AK Bhatt.
But this is not where the students’ problems end. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. At the hostel, students have two places to eat — the mess and a canteen — both allegedly run by the same contractor. Students claimed the canteen food is better and the premises cleaner, while the food served in the mess is often unhygienic and of poor quality. They attributed this difference to the fact that they pay additionally for the food at the canteen, whereas the mess operates under a contract.
“The Sai Hospitality company has been blacklisted at IIT Dhanbad and ISM Jamshedpur, but we are forced to eat the food it provides. You would be shocked to see the conditions in which we eat,” alleged Chhotu.
Commuting is another concern. The buses that ferry students from the hostel to the BSNL ARTC campus are old, students alleged, raising questions about their safety.
“One day, a tyre came off while the bus was moving on the road,” alleged another student, who participated in the protest.
Students also say they are wary of complaining to the administration, fearing they could be singled out. A third-year student recalled writing to the Director about Wi-Fi connectivity problems, only to face questions from faculty over bypassing the order of hierarchy.
“We are afraid to complain because we feel we will be targeted. When we wrote to the director about the Wi-Fi issue, some faculty members questioned why we had gone over their heads,” the student alleged.
Even minor damage to hostel rooms has led to disputes. Last year, 14 students were allegedly fined Rs 5,000 each for damage to their rooms. Parents tried to raise the issue with the institute, but the students eventually had to pay.
“There was a hole in the plywood wall. It was repaired with putty; nevertheless, we were charged Rs 5,000. Even if a switch or a lock breaks, we are asked to buy the replacement first before they repair it,” claimed a third-year student.
Bhatt, however, said the institute did not impose fines on students deliberately and promised to look into the allegations.
“This happened last year. The caretaker has been changed, and students have not been charged anything like this this year. But if such an incident has occurred, we will inquire into it,” he said.
No clear way to seek help
Students also brought up the issue of limited medical facilities, with a doctor available only between 6 pm and 8 pm.
As far as the mental wellbeing of the students is concerned, students claimed they were not informed about who to approach in case they feel stressed, lonely or overwhelmed. Several claimed they had not been told about the institute’s SC/ST cell.
“I did not know my college had an SC/ST cell. The Director told us about it only when he came to meet the protesting students two days ago,” claimed a first-year student. “This information should have been shared with us earlier,” he added.
Registrar-in-charge Munuren Samson Champia said the SC/ST cell was active and that the institute had not received any complaints of caste discrimination.
“We have not received any complaints of casteism or any kind of discrimination. The details are mentioned on our website,” he said.
Champia, however, acknowledged that communication over mental health could improve.
“We do have a committee with two professors, but it appears that students do not know about it. We will improve communication and ensure that students facing stress can seek help. We are also appointing a counsellor,” he said.
For Aditya’s father, Vishnu Dev Kumar, these complaints were not abstract grievances.
“Aditya would always say that electricity was a problem there and that he did not get good food. He would say these problems distracted him from studying,” Vishnu Dev Kumar claimed.
(Edited by Aakriti Handa)