IIT-K research scholar found dead in hostel room

Kanpur, Dec 20: A research staff member with the department of biological sciences and bioengineering (BSBE) at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur ( (IIT-K) was found dead in her hostel room, officials and police said.

The deceased originally belonged to Cuttack, Odisha.

Her body was found hanging from the ceiling hook in the hostel room on second floor of RA tower on the campus on Tuesday.

The police said she had moved into the hostel room three days ago.

Working as project executive officer in BSBE department for about a year, she was earlier living in a rented accommodation outside the campus.

SHO Kalyanpur Dhananjay Pandey said the institute had informed the family and the post-mortem would be conducted after the family arrives from Odisha on Wednesday.

A cleaner, who failed to get any response to his calls in the evening, alerted the hostel superintendent Atiqur Rehman.

When the superintendent peeped in from the window, he saw the body.

The institute, in a statement issued late Tuesday night, said she was a promising researcher and joined IIT-K for her post-doctoral research.

“A police forensic team has visited the campus to review the reason for the death; the institute was awaiting the police investigation to determine the likely cause of the death. In her passing away, the institute has lost a young bright and promising researcher,” it added.