A second-year student at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay died by suicide after being caught using a mobile phone to cheat during an examination.
According to the institute, the student, who was studying in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering, had uploaded the examination question paper to ChatGPT to obtain answers while the test was under way,
IIT Bombay said no disciplinary action had been taken against the student over the incident.
The instructor and head of the department also spoke to the student after the examination, counselled him and assured him that the incident would not adversely affect his academic future, the institute added.
The student subsequently returned to his hostel room. He was later found dead in the room that evening, according to the account provided by the institute.
Indian media reports said the incident was the third suspected suicide at IIT Bombay’s Powai campus in the past six months.
Following news of the death, students began protesting outside the campus.
Protesting students alleged that the institute had not disclosed the full circumstances surrounding the death.
They also claimed that the student had allegedly been threatened with a one-year suspension over the cheating allegation.
Such a suspension, they said, could have extended his four-year degree to five years or longer and required him to vacate the hostel and live outside the campus.
Students alleged that fear of disciplinary action and the pressure surrounding the incident may have contributed to the student’s decision to take his own life.
