SHILLONG: A 34-year-old assistant professor of Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Shillong, hanged himself on Thursday morning.
According to police, Dr Arindam Mukhopadhyay, who was originally from Burnpur in West Bengal, joined IIM-Shillong in 2015 and he lived alone in one of the institute’s rented house.
“He finished his PhD in 2015. He was very young and it came as a shock to us,” said a source in the institute.
According to the source, the professor sent a message to his cousin sister in Kolkata, West Bengal around 11 am mentioning about his intention to end his life. After this information was shared with the landlady, she called the police who came and broke down the door. But by the time help came around 1pm, he was already dead.
The body has been sent to NEIGRIHMS for post-mortem and the report will come in two days. However, the body will be released for final rites on Friday. His family members are reaching Shillong on Friday morning, police said.
Those who knew Mukhopadhyay say he was a quiet person, gentle and soft-spoken, and cordial with everyone.
“By virtue of personality, he was very quiet but cordial during meetings or personal interaction,” the source added.
When contacted, a police official said that the information was shared to the police by the sister of the deceased and when police reached the spot, he was already dead.
Police are probing whether the professor was suffering from depression during the lockdown.