New Delhi, Aug. 29 -- The standoff between protesting students and the administration of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-D) entered its fifth day on Friday, with hundreds of students continuing their agitation over the death of 31-year-old MSc Physics student Rishikesh Kumar and demanding accountability from the institute. Students said they would continue the protests until all four of their demands were met: the resignation of the Dean (Students' Welfare), an independent inquiry into alleged institutional lapses, Rs.1 crore compensation for Kumar's family, and an assurance that no action will be taken against students who participated in the agitation. The protests followed Kumar's death on August 22, when he allegedly jumped off the sixth floor of the Lecture Hall Complex. Students began demonstrating on August 24, and the agitation has since drawn participants from several departments. The institute has constituted a five-member committee to examine the matter. It is headed by retired Delhi High Court judge Mukta Gupta and includes Pratap Sharan, head of the psychiatry department at AIIMS, two student representatives - one each from MSc Physics and MSc Mathematics- and IIT-D registrar Atul Vyas. But students said the committee did not address their demand for an independent inquiry and that their concerns went beyond Kumar's death. They said the agitation was also intended to highlight the deaths by suicide of seven other students since 2023. On Friday, IIT-D director Rangan Banerjee termed Kumar's death "a wake-up call" and said the administration was committed to reforms. "The loss of a young life isn't just tragic, but also a wakeup call. We understand students are grieving and they are angry. We are grieving too. We are also trying to find a solution. We have differences in their approach but our intent is same," Banerjee said in an interview with a student posted on X. Students, however, alleged that Kumar's difficulties had been visible for months and that the institute's response had failed him. A 30-year-old student said Kumar joined IIT-D in July 2025 and was elected class representative, unopposed, in both the first and second semesters. The student alleged that Kumar's mental health struggles intensified in March and that he faced difficulties securing campus accommodation. "When we came back after summer break around mid-July, a room was allotted to him but later, in the revised list, his name was dropped," the student said. According to the student, Kumar subsequently requested accommodation again in August, but was denied. The student said Kumar had previously told classmates that he felt "suffocated" in the residential locality of Katwaria Sarai, where he had rented a room and lived with his mother. All students who spoke to HT requested anonymity, saying they "feared disciplinary action" and did not want to be seen interacting directly with the media. They said students had taken a "collective call" to communicate about the protests and their demands through social media. The students also took their agitation towards the main gate on Thursday night. A student alleged that barricades and security personnel prevented them from reaching the gate, where they had planned to address the media. In an email to students on Friday, Banerjee said a group of protesters had entered residential areas and demonstrated outside faculty housing and added that disciplinary action would be taken against those disrupting the functioning of the campus....