22-Year-Old IISc MTech Student Found Dead in Campus Hostel Room

A 22-year-old postgraduate student at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) died by suicide inside his campus hostel room, police said on Thursday. The institute falls under the jurisdiction of the Sadashivanagar police station in Bengaluru.

The deceased has been identified as Gopal Mandal, a second-year MTech student and a native of West Bengal who was residing in the institute's hostel.

According to police officials, Mandal is suspected to have taken the extreme step on Wednesday night by hanging himself from a ceiling fan in his room. Fellow students and hostel authorities discovered his body around 7:30 am on Thursday and alerted the authorities. Police personnel arrived at the scene, inspected the room, and shifted the body for a post-mortem examination.

Investigators recovered a suicide note from the room. In the note, Mandal allegedly stated that he had been in a relationship with a girl since his school days and that recent differences leading to a breakup had caused him to take the step. The Sadashivanagar police have registered a case of unnatural death.

In a statement issued on Friday, IISc expressed grief over the incident: "We are extremely saddened to announce the death of an IISc MTech student by suicide on 20 August 2026. We express our heartfelt condolences to the student’s family and friends. Our deepest sympathies are with them during this difficult time. We are committed to ensuring that the IISc campus is a safe and inclusive space for everyone."

This incident is the second student suicide reported on the IISc campus this month. On August 6, a 19-year-old student named Rakshan, hailing from Chikkaballapura, was found dead in his hostel room. He was pursuing a BTech in Mathematics and Computing and had been residing on the campus for the past two years.