Kolkata: It has been three years since IIT Kharagpur student Faizan Ahmed was found dead in his hostel room, yet the fight for justice continues. What was initially dismissed as a suicide has been proven, through relentless struggle, to be murder — but even today, no one has been held accountable.
On October 14, 2022, 23-year-old Faizan Ahmed, a third-year mechanical engineering student from Tinsukia, Assam, was found dead inside his hostel. The first autopsy, conducted at Midnapore Medical College, hastily labelled the case a suicide, overlooking crucial evidence: injuries on the body, bloodstains on the walls, and inconsistencies in the forensic report.
Unwilling to accept this, Faizan’s parents approached the Calcutta High Court, seeking truth and accountability. The court appointed forensic expert Dr Ajay Kumar Gupta, who reviewed the postmortem footage and discovered a hematoma and severe head injuries, indicating homicide. Acting on this, the Calcutta High Court ordered a second postmortem, which was carried out in May 2023 at Calcutta Medical College after the body was exhumed from Tinsukia.
The second postmortem confirmed what the family always believed — Faizan was murdered. Justice Rajasekhar Mantha then declared the case a homicide and directed the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to find the culprits.
Yet, three years on, the SIT has failed to name a single accused or present any concrete progress. In September 2025, the West Bengal government’s counsel even appealed to the High Court to form a medical board to review both autopsies, a move Faizan’s family fears will dilute the homicide finding and derail justice once again.
Speaking exclusively on the Olive Talks by eNewsroom Podcast, Faizan’s mother, Rehana Ahmed, breaks her silence. Her voice trembles as she recalls her son’s dreams and her three-year fight against indifference. “I feel hopeless now,” she says, “I have lost faith in everything — the police, the court, the system. I just want justice for my son.”
