IIT Kharagpur student sends scheduled WhatsApp message before hanging himself, eighth death on campus since January 2025

Key facts

• Soham Halder, 21, a fourth-year dual-degree student in Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering, was found hanging from a ceiling fan at Madan Mohan Malviya Hall of Residence.
• Halder sent a scheduled WhatsApp message to his sister at 10:45 a.m., informing her of his death; the message arrived five minutes later.
• This is the eighth death on the IIT Kharagpur campus since January 2025, and the second in 10 days.
• On April 18, third-year mechanical engineering student Jayveersinh Dodiya, 21, died after jumping from the seventh-floor terrace of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hall of Residence.
• Halder had not registered for the seventh and eighth semesters and had not been attending classes, according to director Suman Chakraborty.
• Police are reviewing CCTV footage and examining Halder's phone; the cause of death is under investigation pending post-mortem.
• IIT Kharagpur director Suman Chakraborty said the institute will strengthen mechanisms to identify stressed students and will hold an open house on April 30.

A scheduled message and a grim discovery

A fourth-year student at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, sent a pre-scheduled WhatsApp message to his sister on Tuesday morning, telling her he had ended his life and asking her to call security to retrieve his body. Five minutes later, at 10:50 a.m., security personnel forced open the door of his room in the Madan Mohan Malviya Hall of Residence and found Soham Halder, 21, hanging from the ceiling fan. Doctors at the institute hospital declared him brought dead, a police officer from the Hijli outpost said. The scheduled message — a feature available only to WhatsApp Business account users — had been timed to arrive after his death.

The second death in ten days

Halder's death is the eighth on the IIT Kharagpur campus since January 2025 and the second in just over a week. On April 18, Jayveersinh Dodiya, a 21-year-old third-year mechanical engineering student from Ahmedabad, is suspected to have jumped from the seventh-floor terrace of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hall of Residence. The back-to-back incidents have alarmed students and families, who question the absence of a robust institutional mechanism to prevent such tragedies. An IIT Kharagpur official said the institute has initiated a detailed inquiry and is extending assistance to Halder's family.

A student who had stopped attending classes

IIT Kharagpur director Suman Chakraborty revealed that Halder, though in his fourth year, had not registered for the seventh and eighth semesters and had not been attending classes. “We are going through his academic records to understand why he did not register. We will also speak to the faculty adviser about this,” Chakraborty said. Halder's roommate told authorities he had noticed no aberration in the student's behaviour. The director added that Halder had never visited the institute's counselling facility. “We need to speak to his parents to understand whether they were aware of why he did not register,” Chakraborty said.

Police investigation and institutional response

West Midnapore district superintendent of police Papiya Sultana said officers are reviewing CCTV footage from the hostel premises and examining Halder's phone as part of the investigation. “If the family lodges any complaint, we will examine it,” she said. Arun Chakraborty, IIT's dean of student well-being, confirmed that after the student was brought down, doctors examined him and declared him dead. The institute expressed deep grief in a statement and said a detailed inquiry has been initiated. Director Suman Chakraborty acknowledged that “the recurrence of death is a matter of concern” and announced an open house with students on April 30.

A pattern of deaths raises questions about mental health support

Halder's death is the eighth since January 2025, a period of about 15 months. On December 8, 2025, IIT research scholar Shravan Kumar, 26, was found unconscious with multiple injuries near the railway tracks close to Kharagpur railway station and died the same day. The string of incidents has brought the issue of mental health and student support systems at the institute into sharp focus. Director Chakraborty said the institute will strengthen the mechanism to identify stressed-out and depressed students and take follow-up steps. “We need to enable students suffering from anxiety and extreme stress to open up their minds and do everything needed to prevent such incidents,” he said.

What comes next

Investigators are awaiting the post-mortem report to ascertain the exact cause of death. Police have said they will examine any complaint from the family. The institute plans to speak with Halder's parents, who have arrived on campus from Barasat in North 24 Parganas district. Director Chakraborty's open house on April 30 will be a key moment for students to voice concerns. Whether the institute can translate its stated intent into effective preventive measures remains an open question, as the campus community grapples with a toll that shows no sign of abating.

The bottom line

• Soham Halder, 21, used a scheduled WhatsApp message to inform his sister of his suicide, a feature that requires a business account.
• Halder had not registered for his final-year semesters and had not attended classes, nor had he sought counselling.
• This is the eighth death on the IIT Kharagpur campus since January 2025, including two in 10 days.
• The institute's director has acknowledged the need for better mechanisms to identify distressed students and will hold an open house on April 30.
• Police are investigating both recent deaths, reviewing CCTV footage and phone records.
• The repeated incidents have intensified scrutiny of mental health support systems at one of India's premier engineering institutes.