A Disheartening Aftermath
The unfortunate demise of a third-year undergraduate student- Faizan Ahmed, has rattled the KGP fraternity to its core, and it is incumbent for us to stay together. We urge everyone to look out for their peers and reach out to them in case they face any problems, no matter how trivial they seem. Having said that, the student community deserves to know a clear picture of the events that transpired and the shortcomings of the administration in handling them. We hope this will prevent such a tragedy in the future, along with shedding light on the protocols in place to deal with such events.
14th October 2022
On the morning of 14th October, Faizan Ahmed was found deceased at LLR Hall of Residence. When the body was found, basic humanitarian measures like vacating the wing, covering the body, and not allowing students nearby were not followed.
Following this, the police and security arrived. No faculty members from the institute administration or the BC Roy Technology Hospital were present, and there was a clear lack of assistance from the institute in handling the body. The body was covered and moved to the vehicle by the hall workers and shifted to the local State Hospital, which lacked the proper facilities to preserve the body. The body was then shifted to Midnapore Medical College, which had adequate facilities.
Later that evening, Faizan's family was informed by the police about the death. It should be noted that Prof. Dhrubajyoti Sen (Dean of Student Affairs, hereby referred to as DoSA) and Prof P.K. Das (Faizan's Faculty Advisor) did not contact the family themselves, despite it being their moral obligation to do so.
15th October 2022
Faizan's family was received at Kolkata airport by the hall supervisor from RP hall of residence and a mess worker and hall manager from LLR hall of residence, who accompanied them to Midnapore Medical College. After being constantly persuaded by the student representatives, the HMC Chairman and Coordinating Wardens (Mess and Maintenance) showed up at Midnapore Medical College, but the DoSA and Faculty Advisor still did not show up despite multiple requests by the student representatives both through calls and through visits to their residences. Multiple student representatives showed up at the scene. The family was appalled by the body's condition, to the extent that they could not believe it was their own son's body. The body was sent for postmortem.
Faizan's family was accompanied to the campus thereafter, and for the entirety of the family's stay in KGP, the student representatives tended to them whilst also overseeing the candle march organized in remembrance of Faizan. The family deservedly asked to meet the administration and was met by a cold, apathetic response from them.
After a lot of persuasion from Faizan’s family and the student representatives, a meeting was finally called between them and the faculty members of the administration. Shockingly, the Deputy Director of IIT Kharagpur did not show up despite being present on campus and aware of the meeting. Prof Dhrubajyoti Sen (Dean of Student Affairs), Prof P.K. Das (Faizan's Faculty Advisor), Senior Security Officer, Security Officer, Assistant Security Officer, President of TSG, Assistant wardens of LLR Hall of Residence and the Warden and Assistant Wardens of RP Hall of Residence showed up after multiple calls from the student representatives. The student senate and the mentioned faculty representatives met with Faizan's family at the Technology Guest House.
The family aired the following grievances, none of which received an appropriate response from the admin:
- Why was the body not preserved properly after being found?
- Why were we not initially contacted by any faculty members of the institute administration themselves?
- If Faizan didn't have any human contact for a certain period of time, why didn't the concerned authorities reach out to him?
- Why is there a lack of acknowledgment on behalf of the authorities concerning their shortcomings in dealing with the entire situation?
The entire meeting stretched on for almost four hours (approximately from 11:00 PM to 3:00 AM) due to the present faculty members not answering the questions being asked to them. After multiple reiterations of the same questions and constant pressure from the family, the faculty members made a few comments, albeit very unsatisfactory, in response to the questions asked. Regarding the lack of proper care of the body, they mentioned that since the police had taken the body into their custody, it was out of the admin's hands. The administration had no response to the second and third questions.
Seeing the condition of the parents and the administration's response, the VP raised a few final questions about the incident, to which the DoSA responded as follows:
- Were you called multiple times and approached by the student representatives to meet the family at Midnapore Medical College? To this, he responded that yes, he was called but refused to go citing medical reasons.
- Having missed four out of five mid-semester examinations, why didn't the faculty advisor care to contact Faizan? This question was answered with deafening silence.
The family repeatedly reiterated the need for acknowledgment from the admin. Furthermore, the conduct of a professor was found to be extremely disrespectful towards the bereaved family, as he was found smirking during the meeting.
Owing to the cold, unsatisfactory responses received and refusal to take any responsibility, the family demanded the resignation of the Dean of Student Affairs and Assistant Warden (Maintenance) of LLR Hall of Residence.
After a draining 4 hours, the administration meekly acknowledged that there had indeed been shortcomings on their end, however, failed to provide the same in writing.
The administration took a more justification-oriented approach rather than empathizing with the family that had just lost their son. It is devastating that the administration continues to fail in their responsibilities towards the student community and that the family of the deceased had to endure all this needless bureaucracy in addition to their grave personal loss.
We thank the student representatives for standing with the students and the family through the loss suffered. We urge the student community to be empathetic toward the situation and refrain from spreading misinformation.
P.S. This link contains the contact details of the following position holders for the academic session 2022–23. Please reach out to them in case of any academic or non-academic issues faced.
