The protest came two days after a 31-year-old MSc Physics student, Rishikesh, died allegedly by suicide after jumping from the sixth floor of a building on the campus. (Express Photo:At 9 a.m. on Monday, students began gathering near the Lecture Hall Complex at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi. By evening, nearly 300 of them had moved to the first-floor lobby of the institute’s main building, outside the director’s office, demanding accountability from the administration.For a campus where student protests are an unusual sight, the mobilisation was striking.The protest came two days after a 31-year-old MSc Physics student, Rishikesh, died allegedly by suicide after jumping from the sixth floor of a building on the campus. Students said his death was the eighth suicide at the institute since 2023, and demanded the resignation of a Dean and Associate Deans, along with an independent inquiry and compensation for his family.“We are not here after one suicide. Not after two. We are here after eight. How is it not enough for them?” a student said.The morning began around the Lecture Hall Complex, where students gathered and discussed their demands. Among them were the resignation of Professor Sreedevi Upadhyaula, Associate Dean of Student Welfare, an inquiry into the deaths, and Rs 1 crore in compensation for Rishikesh’s family.After a brief silence in memory of Rishikesh, students began talking about what they described as a pattern of “administrative indifference”. “Rishikesh had taken a semester-long withdrawal after his father’s death earlier this year because of mental health difficulties. He underwent treatment for more than a month,” a student said.“When he returned to the hostel in late July, however, his name had been removed from the hostel rolls because of his withdrawal,” another student said.Story continues below this adStudents alleged that despite fitness clearances from the hospitals where he had been treated, Rishikesh was asked to obtain another clearance from the IIT Delhi hospital before he could be allotted a room. “He was eventually forced to stay in rented accommodation outside the campus with his mother,” a student said.“Whenever we try to talk about problems, they tell us, ‘You should leave if you can’t cope.’ They have a lack of empathy,” another student said, while protesting.The administration had cancelled all classes on Monday as the protest gathered momentum. By late afternoon, the centre of the demonstration had shifted from the Lecture Hall Complex to the main building.By 5 p.m., the first-floor lobby outside IIT Delhi Director Rangan Banerjee’s office had become the heart of the protest. Around 300 students had gathered there. Banerjee had already received the students’ list of demands and was meeting representatives, along with Professor Sreedevi.At about 5:30 p.m., Banerjee emerged from his office.The students cheered.Story continues below this adHe announced that an inquiry committee would be constituted. But he also said that Professor Sreedevi would not resign at that point.The cheers quickly turned into hoots. Professor Sreedevi was escorted out through a back entrance of the building. “If she can’t face us, how will she solve our problems?” one student asked.Another student said: “If we lose a credit, we are punished. Why is she not being punished? If we don’t feel safe talking to her, what’s the point of her being in that chair?”On the question of compensation, Banerjee said Rs 6 lakh, along with all medical expenses incurred by Rishikesh, would be paid to his single mother.Story continues below this adThe announcement drew little comfort from the crowd. “What is a single mother supposed to do with that? They were struggling financially anyway,” a student said.According to a preliminary police inquiry, Rishikesh entered the IIT Delhi campus through the main gate at around 8 a.m. on Saturday. He then went to the Lecture Hall Complex and took a lift to the sixth floor before allegedly jumping from the front side of the building, a senior police officer said. His death was the second alleged suicide at the institute this year. In March, a 19-year-old BTech student was found dead inside his apartment on the campus.