IIM-B student dies after falling off second floor of hostel, sparks debate on caste discrimination

Bengaluru: The death of a student of the Indian Institute of Management, Bengaluru (IIM-B), Nilay Kailashbhai Patel, who had presumably fallen off the second floor of his hostel, has sparked an online debate on caste-based discrimination.

Several posts on ‘X’ weigh in on the possibility of the student dying of suicide due to discrimination. Incidentally, the police told PTI on Monday that initial investigation points to an accidental fall. They said suicide is unlikely as they could not find any suicide note.

But All India OBC Students Association (AIOBCSA) has asked for clarification from IIM-B. “We demand @iimb_official to provide clarity on this critical issue. The institution lacks adequate mechanisms to address the concerns of marginalised communities, a matter we have repeatedly highlighted,” said the organisation through its X page, @aiobcsa.

It has also tagged the Ministry of Education and Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan. “We call upon @EduMinOfIndia to take immediate action to prevent student suicides and to strengthen institutional support systems for students from marginalised backgrounds,” read the post.

Despite repeated attempts, PTI could not get through to the Director of IIM-B, Rishikesha T Krishnan for his comments. Meanwhile, the police told PTI: “We are awaiting the post-mortem report, which will likely come in three days, to ascertain the cause of death.” Nilay, who was from Surat, had celebrated his 29th birthday with his friends on Saturday. He had allegedly returned to his room after cutting cake in his friend’s room a little after midnight and was found lying in the courtyard lawn of the hostel at about 6.30 am on Sunday, the police said.

According to police, he was spotted by the security personnel and was immediately rushed to the hospital where he was declared brought dead.

Soon after, IIM-B had put out a condolence message on its X page. “It is with profound sadness that IIM Bangalore shares the news of the untimely passing of our PGP 2023-25 student,” read the message.

A case of unnatural death was registered by the police and investigation is on.