IIT professor booked for researcher's death near archaeological site in Gujarat
The Hindu
IIT Delhi professor faces negligence charges after PhD student dies in excavation pit collapse at Lothal site.
Police have registered a case against an IIT Delhi professor for alleged negligence following the death of a woman PhD student last year during excavation work near the archaeological site of Lothal in Gujarat, officials said on Thursday (March 27, 2025).
While the incident took place on November 27 last year near the Harappan-era archaeological site, the First Information Report (FIR) was registered on March 23 at Koth police station in Ahmedabad district following a complaint by the student's father, Sub-Inspector P.N. Gohil said.
Surabhi Verma (23), a PhD scholar at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, died after a 10-feet deep excavation pit collapsed on her when she and her professor Yama Dixit were inside the pit to collect soil samples for their paleoclimatic study at Lothal, located nearly 80 km from Ahmedabad.
"While Surabhi died on the spot, Dixit was rescued from the collapsed pit. Based on a complaint given by Surabhi's father Ramkhelavan Verma, the Koth police have booked Dixit on charges of causing death by negligence. No arrest has been made yet," Mr. Gohil said.
Mr. Dixit has been booked under sections 106 (causing death by negligence) and 125 (endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
As per the FIR, Surabhi Verma took admission as a PhD student at the IIT Delhi in December 2023 after completing M Tech in Earth Sciences.
In November 2024, Verma and Mr. Dixit came to Gujarat for a research project.
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