Suspecting Covid-19, IISc student dies by suicide

A student of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru died by suicide after he was depressed over allegedly having COVID-like symptoms, on Tuesday. The victim, Sandeep Kumar, is a native of Chhattisgarh and was pursuing his M Tech at the Department of Computational and Data Sciences.

Bengaluru: A post-graduate student of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) here allegedly ended his life over the fear that he has contracted coronavirus on Tuesday, police said.

The deceased student has been identified as Sandeep Kumar, M.Tech student from Chhattisgarh.

"Kumar committed suicide in his room by hanging. He was under depression that he had symptoms of coronavirus," an investigating police officer said.

According to the officer, Kumar had earlier sent text messages about his condition to some of his friends.

The IISc condoled the death of the student and said the mental wellbeing of its students, faculty and staff was of serious concern and it has provided facilities and wellness resources for those in need.

"We express our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the student, who was pursuing an M.Tech degree at the Department of Computational and Data Sciences," it said in a statement.

The premier science institute added it has provided facilities and wellness resources which include round-the-clock emergency call service for anyone needing to talk to a mental health professional, online counselling and support and one-on-one counselling with counsellors and psychiatrists on campus besides other resources and links hosted by IISc's Wellness Centre.

Karnataka has so far recorded 2.33 lakh positive cases, including 4,062 deaths, and there were 16 infected people dying of "non-COVID reasons", according to the health department. Of the 16, several people had died of suicide due to depression and fear.

(with PTI inputs)