NITK student commits suicide; intense protest by students

Surathkal: An engineering student of NITK (National Institute of Technology Karnataka) committed suicide by jumping from the Mechanical department building at NITK campus here on Saturday, November 17. The deceased victim is identified as Anand Pathak (20), resident of Maharashtra and a student of third year mechanical.

According to sources, Anand had attendance shortage and a professor of Mechanical department had apparently threatened him by telling him that he won’t become an engineer and he will fail in the exam. It is also alleged that the professor pressurized Anand which might have led the victim to take the extreme step.

Intense protest in campus

Following the suicide by Anand Pathak, third year mechanical engineering student, the students came together and launched a protest. They gathered in large numbers at the campus, raised slogans against the professor who allegedly had humiliated Anand. As per some sources, the student council has officially supported the protest.

The students have demanded the temporary suspension of Prof Herbert from the mechanical department until the committee that has been set up to enquire about this issue, comes to a conclusion.

As per sources, this is not the first time a student committed suicide at NITK. As many as three students have committed suicide before, due to alleged harassment from their professors.