AUGUSTO RODRIGUES
The deaths of seven students in less than two years have left many within and outside the BITS Pilani Goa campus in Sancoale deeply disturbed and searching for an swers. The latest tragedy involves a 26-year-old second-year PhD scholar of BITS Pilani Goa Cam pus who allegedly died by suicide at a paying guest accommodation located behind the institute prem ises, once again drawing attention to a troubling pattern of student suicides associated with the pres tigious institution. Those who knew 26-year-old Arjun Sabu from Kerala are strug gling to understand why he chose to end his life barely 15 days after moving out of the campus hostel. The shock and confusion among students was reflected in the words of one student who said, “Initially, the deaths were linked to mental health concerns. Later, the focus shifted to aca demic pressure. But at no point was the institution’s changing ac ademic approach questioned.” According to the landlord of the flat where Arjun’s body was discovered by a maid on Tuesday morning, he had shifted there only 15 days earlier.“He told us he was pursuing his PhD, but lat er the police informed us that he was also assisting one of his pro fessors,” the landlord said.
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The apartment had been rent ed to three individuals — Arjun, another youth from Kerala em ployed at the BITS Pilani campus, and a resident from Pune work ing with a multinational company in Goa. According to the flat owner, Arjun’s two flatmates had left for work in the morning, and it was the maid who discovered him. “Af ter cleaning the rooms of the oth er two boys, she knocked on his door several times. When there was no response, she opened the door and found him lifeless,” said the visibly shaken flat owner, still struggling to come to terms with the tragedy that unfolded in his apartment. “He usually woke up late, so I did not suspect anything un usual and left for work. He had told us he moved out of the PG hostel on campus because he was unhappy there and felt the conditions were not good. But I never imagined he would take such a drastic step,” said one of his flatmates, still grappling with the shock. The series of deaths at the campus began in 2024, when the first suicide was reported on De cember 10. Since then, five more students had allegedly died by suicide, with the most recent case before Arjun’s reported on February 3. Of the six earlier students who died, three were in their second year of graduation while the others were in their third year, and all were residing on campus.
Arjun is the first reported case involving a student who took the ex treme step shortly after moving out of the campus resi dential facility. “If there is a personal reason behind such decisions, how much can institutions really do? Even the national-level committee that visited the campus found no major gaps. If such a committee says corrective measures have already been implemented, what more can one add?” asked Egna Cletus, chairman of the District Level Monitoring Com mittee (DLMC), constituted on the recommendation of the Supreme Court of India to monitor student deaths on campuses. Cletus maintained that despite two more deaths occur ring after the formation of the DLMC, there is only so much authorities can do when individuals take such decisions for personal reasons. The DLMC chairman also argued that the incidents at BITS Pilani Goa cannot be viewed in isolation, noting that similar cases have occurred in several premier institu tions across the country.“If you look at the statistics, such incidents are prevalent in other institutes of national importance as well. It is not an issue confined to Goa alone,” said Cletus when asked what, in his view, was troubling the BITS Pilani Goa campus. For Dr Shilpa R Pandya, consultant psychiatrist at VM Salgaocar Hospital in nearby Chicalim, “Sadness is among the most private and deeply personal emotions human beings experience.
Each person feels it differently, and of ten struggles to express it — especially when it intensifies into hopelessness, worthlessness and, in some cases, sui cidal thoughts.” Dr Pandya urged “young adults to recognise these emo tions when they arise. Just as happiness is not permanent, despair too will pass. In moments of darkness, empower yourself to hold on and choose life.” Not everyone, however, shares the view that these trag edies are solely personal in nature. A parent of one of the students, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “After hearing about the seventh death at BITS Pilani, it is clear that there exists an administratively ineffective system that is failing to adequately address the mental health con cerns of students within the institution.” “Children come here from across India believing this is among the finest places to study, and yet we continue to witness these deaths. I hold both the institution and the government responsible,” the parent said angrily. As night descended outside the campus at Sancoale, a student standing in a group nearby quietly remarked, “It is time the real fault lines are identified instead of being repeatedly misunderstood.” (COOJ operates a distress helpline — 6361612525 — available Monday to Friday from 1 pm to 7 pm.)
