iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
A Purdue University graduate student, Bhavana Chandrashekar, tragically died by suicide on Monday, February 24, as confirmed by West Lafayette police.
Officers arrived at an apartment on South Chauncey Avenue following reports of a suicide and found the 25-year-old Indian-origin doctoral candidate in computer and information technology around 7:40 p.m.
In an email written to grad students Tuesday, February 25, Purdue Graduate Student Government president Somosmita Mitra stated, “While I did not know Bhavana personally, she was one of us, walking in the same buildings, facing the same challenges and sharing in the experience of this demanding journey. While we do not yet have full details surrounding this tragedy, what remains undeniable is that we have lost one of our own. Bhavana was a part of our community, and her absence will be deeply felt.”
“In the midst of it all, it can be easy to feel isolated, to forget that we are part of a larger community that is meant to support one another,” she wrote.
Chandrashekar’s death is part of a troubling trend of graduate student suicides at Purdue over the past four years. A 2024 investigation by The Exponent revealed that more than half of the 12 suicides of Purdue students at that time were graduate students, despite graduate students comprising only 23% of the overall student population.
The investigation also found that nearly two-thirds of those graduate students were non-white.
“Look to your peers — your lab mates, your classmates, your neighbors,” Mitra said. “Check in. Ask if they are okay. Let them know they are not alone.”
In honor of Chandrashekar, PGSG will hold a vigil at the Unfinished Block P in the coming days, according to Mitra, though the details are still being finalized.
(Photo courtesy: https://www.purdue.edu/)
