B Gowri Sankar, a 36-year-old MTech mechanical engineering student, was an employee of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bangalore. Police said there was no suicide note.
"We have sent his laptop to the cyber crime department to see if it contains any documents that could give us clues as to why he committed suicide," a police officer said.
This is the third suicide in the past six months at IIT-M. In February, V Anoop, an MTech mechanical engineering student, committed suicide, and in May, L Nitin Kumar Reddy, another MTech mechanical engineering student, hung himself.
Police said Sankar was a senior engineer at HAL and the company had sponsored his studies at the IIT. He joined the institute on August 8, 2010 and was staying in Cauvery hostel on the campus. Sankar's wife Geetha was trying to reach him on his mobile phone on Wednesday morning and as he did not answer despite repeated attempts, she asked his friend Krishnamurthy, also an MTech student at IIT-M, to check on him.
Geetha and his two sons live at a house in Bangalore. Police said Krishnamurthy went to Sankar's room around 12.30pm and found the door unlocked. He found Sankar lying on his bed with froth at his mouth. He informed the hostel warden and the security officer, who alerted the police. Police inspector B Jaisankar sent the body to the government hospital in Royapettah for postmortem.
Police said Sankar stayed in the room allotted by the college. "He has been doing well academically. We can rule out health problems because not a single report has been filed with the institute hospital in his name," said V G Idichandy, director in-charge at IIT-M.
One of the professors who handled several courses said Sankar was scheduled to leave for Bangalore on Wednesday morning. "He did well in the last semester and didn't seem to be under any stress. He had spoken to his friends in other hostels last evening and they did not notice anything out of the ordinary. He was regular to class and hadn't taken a day off in the last six months," the professor said.
SUICIDES AT IIT-M
October 2008 - Sankar Perumal, MTech mechanical engineering student
May 12, 2010 - R Sandeep, MTech electrical engineering student
February 24, 2011 - V Anoop, MTech mechanical engineering student
May 4, 2011 - L Nitin Kumar Reddy, MTech mechanical engineering student
Aug 31, 2011 - B Gowri Sankar, MTech mechanical engineering student
October 2008: Sankar Perumal, MTech mechanical engineering student
May 12, 2010: R Sandeep, MTech electrical engineering student
February 24, 2011: V Anoop, MTech mechanical engineering student
May 4, 2011: L Nitin Kumar Reddy, MTech mechanical engineering student
Aug 31, 2011: B Gowri Sankar, MTech mechanical engineering student