Lucknow student found dead at BITS Goa hostel, third suspected suicide since December

A 20-year-old student at BITS Pilani’s Goa campus was found dead in his hostel room on Thursday morning, in what police suspect to be a case of suicide. The incident, reported around 10.15 am, marks the third such tragedy at the Zuarinagar campus in the past five months, raising urgent questions about student well-being at one of India’s most prestigious engineering institutions.

The student, identified as Krishna Kasera from Lucknow, was pursuing a dual-degree programme. According to police, the door to his hostel room was locked from the inside. When he failed to respond, fellow students alerted college authorities, who then unlocked the door and discovered his body. No suicide note was recovered at the scene. The student’s family has since arrived in Goa and a post-mortem examination is scheduled for Friday.

A police officer was quoted by The Indian Express, “Prima facie, it is a case of suicide. No note has been recovered.” The campus’s public relations unit has not responded to requests for comment on the incident.

This latest death follows two similar incidents at the Goa campus. On March 4, another 20-year-old student from the 2022 batch, Atharva Desai, was found dead in his hostel room.