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Spring-loaded "anti-suicide" fans, enclosing fans in mesh guards or replacing ceiling fans with wall-mounted units-the physical modifications by Indian education institutions to prevent student suicides might be attracting criticism as "bandaid measures" but the approach has been adopted previously by several foreign universities. University of Houston (UH) had in 2023 made changes in its infrastructure, including installation of security fencing around the building and temporary barriers to secure the upper-level balconies, inner stairwell and sky bridges, after two students died by suicide on the campus. Following the incident, the university had created an Agnes Arnold Hall Taskforce and undertook a three-phase renovation. "The renovation of this facility is a critical step for the university as is the support of our students. With the input of those on the taskforce and others throughout the university, UH also has implemented several initiatives to support our students' mental
IIT Bombay Professor Suryanarayana Doolla, an accused in the alleged suicide of student Sahil Wakode, has been sent on leave to facilitate an impartial probe into the case, sources said on Wednesday. The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay on Monday removed Doolla as the dean of Administrative Affairs following protests over the student's suicide. Prof Doolla has been sent on leave after being removed from his dean post to enable an impartial probe, with no classes currently underway, the sources said. The Mumbai Crime Branch is currently investigating Wakode's death. Wakode (22), a second-year B Tech student in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering, was found hanging in his hostel room on September 18 evening, hours after being caught allegedly using a mobile phone to access ChatGPT during a mid-semester examination, according to officials. A case on charges of suicide abetment and caste discrimination has been registered against Doolla. Wakode's mother on Tue
The IIT Bombay has initiated replacement of ceiling fans with wall-mounted fans after the recent death by suicide of second year B Tech student Sahil Wakode, sources familiar with the development said. Sahil, a Department of Energy Science and Engineering student hailing from Maharashtra's Yavatmal district, was found hanging in his hostel room on the Powai campus on Friday evening, hours after he was allegedly caught using a mobile phone to access ChatGPT during a mid-semester examination. The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Bombay) is set to remove ceiling fans from hostels following recent incidents of student suicides, the sources said. Wall-mounted fans will be installed across all hostels on campus and in other utility areas across the campus. The image of a batch of wall-mounted fans arriving at the campus as part of 'renovation work' has gone viral on social media. NCP (SP) spokesperson Anish Gavande criticised the move, saying fan replacement cannot solve the student
A 22-year-old student of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay committed suicide in his hostel room after he was allegedly caught using his mobile phone during an examination, police said on Saturday. According to a statement from IIT Bombay, Sahil Ravindra Wakode, a native of Maharashtra's Yavatmal district, had uploaded the examination question paper to ChatGPT to seek answers during the exam. The death is the third reported case of suicide at the IIT Bombay campus in Powai in seven months. In February, a second-year student died by suicide in a hostel. In July 2026, at the beginning of the new semester, a 20-year-old second-year BTech student also died by suicide. Wakode was a second-year BTech student in the Energy Science and Engineering department, police said. He was found hanging from the ceiling fan in his room in Hostel Number 4 on the Powai campus on Friday, an official said. He said that the death came to light after his hostel mates noticed no response from his r
A 20-year-old NEET aspirant from Madhya Pradesh allegedly died by suicide after hanging herself from a ceiling fan at her rented apartment in Kota, police said on Wednesday. Khooshbu Patel, who was preparing for the medical entrance examination for the second time, was found hanging at her apartment in Landmark City under the Kunhadi police station area after her younger sister, also a coaching student in Kota, returned from classes on Tuesday night. Police said no suicide note was recovered and the exact reason behind the extreme step was yet to be ascertained. However, Khooshbu was reportedly distressed after scoring around 450 marks in her previous NEET-UG attempt. According to police, her sister Khushi Patel, who is preparing for the JEE examination, returned to the flat around 9 pm after classes in Jawahar Nagar and found the door locked from inside. After knocking repeatedly without response, she sought help from friends, security guards and neighbours. A locksmith was called
A spouse cannot be accused of abetting the suicide of his or her partner merely because there was marital discord between the two, the Bombay High Court has said while quashing a case lodged against a woman for abetting the suicide of her husband. The HC's Nagpur bench, in its order passed last week, held that matrimonial discord is common in domestic life and suicide cannot be attributed to any of the spouses merely because there was a matrimonial dispute. It added that there has to be instigation or direct incitement from the accused to the victim to end life. "In such cases, it cannot be held that due to abetment from one partner the other committed suicide," the court said. The bench allowed the plea filed by a 49-year-old woman, a teacher by profession, seeking to quash the abetment of suicide case filed against her in 2019 by the Amravati police. A single bench of Justice Urmila Joshi Phalke said that in the present case both the husband and the wife had levelled allegations
New York is set to become the latest state to legalize medically assisted suicide for the terminally ill under a deal reached between the governor and state legislative leaders announced Wednesday. Democratic Gov Kathy Hochul plans to sign the proposal next year after pushing to add a series of guardrails in the bill, she announced in an op-ed in the Albany Times Union. Hochul, a Catholic, said she came to the decision after hearing from New Yorkers in the throes of pain and suffering, as well as their children, while also considering opposition from individuals of many faiths who believe that deliberately shortening one's life violates the sanctity of life. I was taught that God is merciful and compassionate, and so must we be, she wrote. This includes permitting a merciful option to those facing the unimaginable and searching for comfort in their final months in this life. A dozen other states and the District of Columbia have laws to allow medically assisted suicide, according t
Amid rising student suicides due to stress, a parliamentary committee has decided to review the "proliferation" of coaching centres to support students in competitive examinations and the social issues arising from it. The standing committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports will also examine impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and leverage of emerging technology on education and student. According to a recent Lok Sabha bulletin, the standing committee has also decided the review of PM Schools for Rising India (PM-SHRI) during the year 2025-26. The panel will review proliferation of coaching centres to support students in competitive examinations, social issues arising from it and existing legislation on the matter, the bulletin said. There have been cases of students enrolled in coaching institutes ending their lives in recent years due to study pressure, with several cases reported in Rajasthan's Kota city alone, which is known as the "coaching capital of ...
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has ordered the setting up of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the suicide of a woman doctor in Satara district last week, an official said on Friday. The doctor, hailing from Beed district of central Maharashtra, was found hanging in a hotel room in Phaltan on October 23. In a suicide note written on her palm, she alleged that sub inspector Gopal Badane raped her on multiple occasions, while Prashant Bankar, a software engineer, mentally harassed her. Both have been arrested. The CM, who holds the Home portfolio, has directed the state Director General of Police to constitute the SIT under a woman IPS officer immediately, the official added. The move comes amid pressure from citizens and political parties seeking justice for the deceased's kin. The victim's family had also appealed for an SIT investigation to ensure stern punishment for the culprits. Meanwhile, BJP leader Chitra Wagh thanked Fadnavis for the decision to set .
The Karnataka High Court has directed Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO & MD of Ola Electric Technologies Private Limited, and Subrat Kumar DasHead of Homologation Engineering to actively cooperate in an ongoing criminal investigation into the suicide of engineer K Aravind, an employee of the company. Justice Mohammad Nawaz on Wednesday also extended the interim protection granted to them, directing police not to harass the petitioners in the guise of investigation, till November 17. The court was hearing the petition filed by the petitioners challenging the FIR registered against them. The case stems from an FIR filed by Aravind's brother Ashwin Kannan with the Subramanyapura police, alleging abetment to suicide under Section 108 of the BNS Act. The deceased had allegedly left behind a death note alleging workplace harassment and denial of his salary dues and other perks by the petitioners. During the hearing, the petitioners contested the authenticity of the note, arguing it might have been
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday spoke over the phone with family members of a woman doctor who allegedly died by suicide in Maharashtra's Satara district, assuring them of support in their fight for justice. The doctor's family members, while demanding justice for her, asked Gandhi to put pressure on the government to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for a probe into her death. They said it has been a week since the doctor's death and feared that evidence would be wiped out. Gandhi spoke to the woman's parents and siblings over the phone of Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal when he visited them at Kavadgaon village in Beed district. The Congress MP assured them that he would pressure the government to set up an SIT to probe the woman's death. The 28-year-old doctor was found hanging in a hotel room in Phaltan town of Satara district on the night of October 23. The postmortem mentioned the cause as asphyxia due to hanging,
Family members of a woman doctor who allegedly committed suicide in Maharashtra's Satara district last week have demanded that the government set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case. The trial should be held in a fast-track court in Beed, they said at a press conference on Monday. "We have some demands for the chief minister. An SIT should be formed at the earliest, and we will not go to Phaltan (where the woman died by suicide) to record our statements. The case should be tried in a fast-track court in Beed. The allegations that are being made against my sister should be verified by checking the CDR (Call Detail Records)," said a woman relative. The complaints made by the woman doctor in the past were not heeded, and a fresh inquiry should be held into them, she added. A male relative of the deceased woman raised questions about the surrender of suspended police sub-inspector Gopal Badane, one of the two arrested accused. "Police kept searching for him. They .