Student’s Death Forces IIT Delhi to Shut Down Classes: Students Demand Rs. 1 Crore Compensation for the Victim’s Family

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A 31-YEAR-OLD STUDENT, Rishikesh Kumar of MSc Physics died on Saturday, August 22, 2026, after he fell from the sixth floor of the Lecture Hall Complex in campus. After the incident, the students decided to protest against Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi on Monday, August 24, 2026. Classes were shut down due to the protests.

A questionable death, the victim left no suicide note for the police to rule the case as a suicide case. The protest began peacefully but turned chaotic after some time. The classes stopped for the day. Students stopped reporters from entering the premises and said there would be no such business as usual until the administration heard their demands. Students also demanded a sum of Rs. 1 crore to be paid as compensation to Rishikesh’s parents. 

See Also: After DU and IITs, Epicenter of Student Activism JNU also Issues Advisory Asking Students to Avoid Jantar Mantar Protests

Kumar Struggled with Personal Problems, Delhi Police Heard A Distress Call

Students claimed that Kumar was struggling with a few personal problems that included improper hostel accommodation, the institute's denial in his academic projects, and the Student Affairs Office's unfair “moral profiling” before his death. Kumar felt left out by the institute.

Delhi police recorded a distress call that was made around 8:33 am on August 22, 2026. Before his death, Kumar entered the campus through the main gate around 8 in the morning and took the elevator to the sixth floor of the Lecture Hall Complex. He fell from the sixth floor and was rushed to the hospital which belonged to the institute but it was too late for the doctors to save him.

The protesting students are asking for an independent inquiry into everything that has happened before Kumar’s death which includes the housing problems and the handling of the emergency in the campus hospital. They are also questioning the Student Counselling Services, the Associate Dean of Student Welfare, the Dean of Student Affairs, and also the Director of negligence.

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Protests Took a Turn, While Students Demand Compensation

The students have come up with a long list of demands, ranging from the resignation of the Dean and Associate Deans of Student Welfare, Academic and Hostel Management, alongside the Head of the Physics Department. Their demands also include an amount of Rs. 1 crore as compensation to be paid to Kumar’s family. This particular demand was added at the last minute by the students in the heat of the moment as written in their statement. They further added that students who were part of the protest must not be punished by the college.

Their demands increased on Monday, when they asked the classes to be shut down for the whole day. The reason was simple. No academic activity should carry on at this hour of a student’s death. Student protesters claimed that eight students of IIT Delhi have committed suicide over the last 30 months, but such details need to be checked from the institute’s official records and the police. 

The protest however, didn’t just stay limited to the students of IIT Delhi. The members of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Students’ Union also  held their own protest outside the campus on Monday, August 24, 2026. Their motto was described as “institutional negligence.” On the same day, the protesters questioned the authorities of IIT Delhi regarding Kumar’s academic project denial and asked for a review on administrative decisions. The All India Students Association joined them on the same day, asking the institute to come out clean on their decision-making process that affects students’ academic careers and access to counselling.

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