‘System needs to take a pause’: Protest erupts at IIT Delhi days after student’s death

Protesters gathered outside IIT Delhi's Lecture Hall Complex on Monday, demanding justice for a 26-year-old MSc physics student who had died the previous Saturday. The protest erupted just days after the student's death, with demonstrators demanding an independent investigation into alleged administrative lapses and accountability for officials involved.

Students took to the campus on Monday morning, with their demands including the resignation of senior officials such as the dean and associate deans of student affairs, the head of the physics department, and a compensation of Rs 1 crore for the deceased's family. They also sought protection from disciplinary action for protesting students and a written response from the administration.

The protest continued into the afternoon as rain fell on the campus, with students moving to the Lecture Hall Complex to hold a sit-in. They criticized the student affairs office for what they called "moral profiling" and demanded transparency around IIT Delhi's mental-health protocols, citing a pattern of student suicides on campus in the past 30 months.

IIT Delhi director Rangan Banerjee met with the protesters later that day, and students reported that the administration responded positively to some demands but left others unresolved. Banerjee confirmed the meeting but declined to provide further details.