Task force to check rising trend of student suicides

SC forms panel to address mental health issues on edu campuses

- Suchitra Kalyan Mohanty @ New Delhi

TAKING note of the increasing suicide deaths in higher educational institutions across the country, the Supreme Court on Monday formed a National Task Force for a mechanism to prevent student suicide deaths on campuses and address their mental health issues.

The two-judge bench of Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan directed Delhi Police to register an FIR on the complaints by family members of two students who died by suicide while studying at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, in 2023. The top court directed the DCP (southwest district) to register the FIR and depute an officer not below an assistant police commissioner to investigate.