IISER Kolkata Initiates Investigation into PhD Student's Passing Following Bullying Claims
The Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata has formed a fact-finding committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of PhD student Anamtira Roy. The committee, comprising both internal and external experts, is headed by Santanu Chattopadhyay, Chairman of IIIT Kalyani.
Roy, a life science researcher at IISER's Haringhata campus in Nadia district, died at AIIMS Kalyani hospital on Friday morning. According to a preliminary report from the hospital, Roy's death is believed to be due to a drug overdose.
In April 2022, another IISER PhD student, Subhadip Roy, was found dead, and he had blamed a researcher guide. The fact-finding committee at IISER Kolkata is tasked with examining the circumstances leading to Roy's death, including allegations of bullying by a senior PhD scholar, Sourabh Biswas. Roy had detailed these allegations in a Facebook post shortly before his death.
The committee is also checking Roy's social media posts as part of their investigation. In one of his posts, Roy had mentioned thoughts of suicide when he was in class 6 and after being mentally harassed in April last year. Roy's posts on social media indicated complaints of mental harassment and extreme bullying.
Roy had alleged in another post that emails to the internal complaint committee failed to elicit any response. The student community at IISER Kolkata has strongly objected to the composition of the fact-finding committee, citing conflict of interest concerns. They allege that some members of the committee, including its head and certain internal faculty members, have close ties to the accused supervisor or her husband, raising questions about impartiality.
The committee is speaking with Roy's parents, other family members, and batchmates. The spokesperson stated that the allegations by the deceased are being addressed with all seriousness, and the committee will submit findings very soon. The probe remains ongoing, with student demands for more comprehensive investigation and institutional accountability.
The students' demands are not without reason. Roy's death follows a heated argument with some research colleagues at the institute's laboratory hours before being rushed to the hospital. Roy's cousin Hrisikesh Roy claims that Roy was bullied and pressurized to such an extent that he was forced to commit suicide by two persons in the institute belonging to his research team.
The fact-finding committee's investigation has also uncovered Roy's struggle with mental health issues. Roy stated in one post that he was partially afflicted by autism and hence subjected to misbehaviour. This, along with the allegations of bullying and institutional negligence, has led to a police case on abetment to suicide and demands for systemic reforms at IISER Kolkata.
SFI general secretary Debanjan Dey met the bereaved family and expressed a desire for a complete and thorough probe. The committee's findings will undoubtedly have far-reaching implications for IISER Kolkata and the scientific community at large, as it seeks to address the systemic issues that led to Roy's tragic death.
- The ongoing investigation by the fact-finding committee at IISER Kolkata, tasked with examining the circumstances surrounding the death of PhD student Anamtira Roy, is not limited to the supposed drug overdose but also extends to allegations of institutional negligence, bullying by a senior scholar, and systemic issues within education-and-self-development institutions that could have contributed to Roy's tragic demise.
- The general-news about Roy's death has sparked discussions beyond academia, with the crime-and-justice system now engaged due to allegations of abetment to suicide, as Roy's family and student community demand a complete and thorough probe, systemic reforms, and institutional accountability to prevent such incidents in the future.
