New Delhi: IIT Delhi Director Rangan Banerjee has warned that disciplinary action will be taken against individuals found to be “disrupting the peaceful functioning of the campus”, following a night of heightened student protests over the death by suicide of 31-year-old MSc student Rishikesh Kumar.

In an official communication to students on Friday, Banerjee said the situation had “escalated significantly” on the night of August 27 despite steps taken by the institute following discussions with student representatives.

He said such conduct could affect the safety, privacy and peace of faculty members and their families, including children and elderly dependants. The director said the institute would take disciplinary action against those disrupting the peaceful functioning of residential areas, classes and other academic or campus activities.

Kumar, a 31-year-old MSc student, allegedly died by suicide after jumping from the sixth floor of a building on the IIT Delhi campus on Saturday. The Delhi Police have registered a First Information Report for alleged abetment of suicide against unknown persons. The registration of the FIR means an investigation is underway; it does not by itself establish culpability.

They have also claimed that Kumar’s death was the eighth suicide at the institute since 2023. The figure and circumstances of the previous cases were not independently established in the information available for this report.

However, the administration has not accepted the students’ demands for the resignation of the officials named in their memorandum or agreed to a specific compensation amount.