IIT-M student commits suicide in hostel dorm

CHENNAI: Academic excellence brought 21-year-old S Merugu Manasa to IIT-Madras, where personal problems hounded her to death. Less than three weeks after attending class at the institute in Adyar, the first year MTech chemical engineering student committed suicideby hanging from the ceiling fan in her hostel dormitory on Tuesday. 

"Merugu returned to the hostel at 7.30am after spending three days with her family (in Karimnagar). She was crying when I saw her in the dormitory, and did not go to the class with her hostel mates," said a maid at the hostel. Eight students stayed together in the dormitory. 

Some students said when they invited her for lunch at the hostel mess, she told them to go ahead and that she would join them later. They did not see her alive after that. "She was a fun-loving girl, and not someone who seemed depressed or unhappy," said a student. 

Police sources said that one of her roommates returned in the evening to find the door locked from inside. When Merugu did not open the door for a long time, the student informed the hostel warden and the security officials broke open the door. They found her hanging. 

Dean of students L S Ganesh said, "Classes have just begun, so we don't think it was academic pressure that made her take this step." A week after joining IIT-M, she had told her classmates that she had married Srinivasa Minisala, a software engineer at Infosys in Hyderabad, when she was in her final year at Jawaharlal Nehru Technical University, Andhra Pradesh. 

Police said Merugu's relatives did not seem to know about the marriage. "We called her uncle and informed him about her death. He was surprised to know she was married," the official said.

The girl's father, Rajesh Shiyan, and her husband were informed of her death. The Kotturpuram police said Merugu died around 2.30 pm, and that the institute informed them around two hours later. 

The body was sent to Government Royapettah Hospital for autopsy. Police said they did not find a suicide note, and they could find no clues in her laptop as it was password protected. 

Sivakumar M Srinivasan, head of the institute's guidance and counselling unit, said her hostel mates at Sarayu C2-3 hostel were given professional counselling for at least 15 minutes each. "They have been moved to Sharavati hostel and won't be coming back because they might get upset when they see the place," he added. 

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