Teachers at IIT Kharagpur on Friday decided to form a committee to ascertain whether the procedure laid down for accidental death and suicide on the campus was followed after the death of Faizan Ahmed, who was a third-year BTech student.
The procedure was framed in July 2017. Students on the campus had last week alleged that certain faculty members had showed lack of empathy while interacting with the family of Faizan, who was found dead in his hostel room on October 14.
The IIT administration had on October 21 issued a statement admitting that there was a gap in communication between the authorities and the family of the dead student, “owing to which no faculty members had contacted the parents or any family members despite the fact that at least the deputy director, dean of students’ affairs and the faculty adviser of the deceased student were expected to do so”.
A teacher who attended the meeting that resolved to form the committee said the panel would be made of five to six teachers, who will “independently” assess whether there was any violation of the procedure.
If they come across any violation, they will suggest remedial measures.
Since the administration has admitted lapses in handling the situation following the student’s death, the committee will try to identify those lapses, the teacher said.
