IIT-K student from Sheohar found dead in hostel room

Kharagpur/Kolkata/Patna: A third-year civil engineering student at IIT-Kharagpur from Sheohar in Bihar was found dead in his hostel room early Sunday morning in what police suspect to be a case of suicide. The student, 22, had been on a video call with a friend in Delhi moments before his death.
At 2.53am, the institute's security officer received a distress call from the girl, who said that the student had hanged himself during their conversation. IIT-K authorities quickly alerted the Hijli outpost police, who forced open the door of the Madan Mohan Malaviya Hall around 3.30am and discovered his body. He was rushed to the campus's B C Roy Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
The student had been alone in his room as his roommate was away. His room had remained locked since Saturday night. The girl, who located the emergency contact number on the IIT-K website, reportedly told the security officer the incident happened while she watched helplessly on her screen.
There was no known history of mental health issues or contact with the institute's counselling services. According to sources, the 2022 batch student had been academically driven and had enrolled in extra computer science courses. However, he had faced an exam malpractice case earlier this year and was deregistered from one course, which he was set to repeat next semester.
In an official statement, the institute said, "It is with deep sadness that IIT Kharagpur condoles the untimely demise of Md Asif Qamar… We are committed to supporting the family and strongly encourage students to use the institute's well-being services."
Back in Sheohar, the student's family, respected and well-known in the area, struggled to make sense of the tragedy. Qamar was the youngest of six brothers, all engineers working across Gulf nations such as Bahrain, UAE and Saudi Arabia. He also had two sisters – one married and the other still in school. His father, a former headmaster of a govt school, retired around eight years ago, while his mother, Sabiha Khatoon, is a teacher at the Urdu Middle School in Garahia.
Family members said Qamar had spoken to his mother late into the night. "He ended the call saying he was going to the canteen to eat something as it was late," said his cousin, Mohd Afroz. "Within four hours, we received information that he died by suicide. We are all stunned. We don't know what went wrong," he added.
Afroz described Qamar as a gifted and hardworking student. "He was the district topper in his Intermediate exams conducted by the Bihar School Examination Board, scoring 90% in 2022. The same year, he cleared the JEE on his first attempt and joined IIT-Kharagpur. He had scored 93.2% in Class X under the CBSE board. He was a brilliant student."
Fazal Rab Abdali, a third-year undergraduate student in Exploration Geophysics at IIT Kharagpur and a native of Patna, said, "He was one of my friends. I was really shocked when I heard the news in the morning. He was a very kind person. It is a huge loss for us."
Kharagpur/Kolkata/Patna: A third-year civil engineering student at IIT-Kharagpur from Sheohar in Bihar was found dead in his hostel room early Sunday morning in what police suspect to be a case of suicide. The student, 22, had been on a video call with a friend in Delhi moments before his death.
At 2.53am, the institute's security officer received a distress call from the girl, who said that the student had hanged himself during their conversation. IIT-K authorities quickly alerted the Hijli outpost police, who forced open the door of the Madan Mohan Malaviya Hall around 3.30am and discovered his body. He was rushed to the campus's B C Roy Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
The student had been alone in his room as his roommate was away. His room had remained locked since Saturday night. The girl, who located the emergency contact number on the IIT-K website, reportedly told the security officer the incident happened while she watched helplessly on her screen.
There was no known history of mental health issues or contact with the institute's counselling services. According to sources, the 2022 batch student had been academically driven and had enrolled in extra computer science courses. However, he had faced an exam malpractice case earlier this year and was deregistered from one course, which he was set to repeat next semester.
In an official statement, the institute said, "It is with deep sadness that IIT Kharagpur condoles the untimely demise of Md Asif Qamar… We are committed to supporting the family and strongly encourage students to use the institute's well-being services."
Back in Sheohar, the student's family, respected and well-known in the area, struggled to make sense of the tragedy. Qamar was the youngest of six brothers, all engineers working across Gulf nations such as Bahrain, UAE and Saudi Arabia. He also had two sisters – one married and the other still in school. His father, a former headmaster of a govt school, retired around eight years ago, while his mother, Sabiha Khatoon, is a teacher at the Urdu Middle School in Garahia.
Family members said Qamar had spoken to his mother late into the night. "He ended the call saying he was going to the canteen to eat something as it was late," said his cousin, Mohd Afroz. "Within four hours, we received information that he died by suicide. We are all stunned. We don't know what went wrong," he added.
Afroz described Qamar as a gifted and hardworking student. "He was the district topper in his Intermediate exams conducted by the Bihar School Examination Board, scoring 90% in 2022. The same year, he cleared the JEE on his first attempt and joined IIT-Kharagpur. He had scored 93.2% in Class X under the CBSE board. He was a brilliant student."
Fazal Rab Abdali, a third-year undergraduate student in Exploration Geophysics at IIT Kharagpur and a native of Patna, said, "He was one of my friends. I was really shocked when I heard the news in the morning. He was a very kind person. It is a huge loss for us."