IIT Kharagpur Student Rohit Kumar Death

The death of a student sparked off violence in the IIT Kharagpur campus on Sunday as angry students damaged the residence of institute Director Damodar Acharya, demanding suspension of the superintendent of the institute-run hospital for alleged negligence. Rohit sustained head injuries from a fall during a basketball game.

Students alleged that Rohit Kumar, a third year electronic engineering student, was admitted to the B.C. Roy Hospital within the IIT premises after he felt uneasy in the morning. The student was discharged after medication, but his condition deteriorated as he was returning to his hostel. But as his condition worsened on the way, he was taken by his friends to the Midnapore district General hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

The institute director, Damodar Acharya, resigned after angry students ransacked his house and refused to lift the siege till he took responsibility for the death.

Police said Kumar, who had a history of epilepsy, was admitted to B C Roy Hospital in the campus after he met with an accident two days ago. Rohit, who hailed from Patna and was an inmate of Lala Lajpat Roy hostel of the premier institution, died while being shifted to Midnapore Medical College and Hospital.

Enraged students surrounded the director for over six hours and ransacked his residence, protesting what they alleged the lack of facilities at the hospital and medical negligence in treating Kumar, who hailed from Darbhanga in Bihar.

Rohit’s father, R P Sahni, was on his way to Kharagpur from Darbhanga, where the family lives. He said he had received news of his son’s death at 2 pm, but didn’t know the details. Rohit was the younger of his two sons. An extremely jovial person with a large number of friends, Rohit was also one of the brightest in his class.

Deputy director Madhusudan Chakraborty said: “There is trouble on the campus surrounding a student’s death and we are looking into the matter. At this stage I will not be able to comment any further.”

However, the authorities ruled out medical negligence and claimed that the student had a history of epilepsy and was sent to a hospital in Kolkata but died on the way. Read more about IIT Kharagpur Student Death Click Here.