The ordeal began when Atul checked his exam results on his older brother's laptop on June 9. Realizing he had successfully secured admission to the Electrical Engineering program at IIT Dhanbad, he felt a wave of excitement wash over him. In a race against time, Atul borrowed money from villagers to gather the necessary fee. However, just as he attempted to make the payment at 4:45 PM on June 24, he encountered a technical glitch—the college's online portal was unresponsive, and he ultimately missed the deadline.