SAMBALPUR: A second-year postgraduate (PG) student of the Economics department at Sambalpur University was reportedly found hanging from the ceiling fan of his hostel room on Tuesday night.
The 24-year-old deceased student was a native of Kutra area in Sundargarh district. He was staying at Brahmaputra hostel on the university campus.
According to reports, the student had not come out of his hostel room since Tuesday afternoon, raising concern among his friends. Sources said he had earlier asked one of his friends for notes but thereafter remained confined to his room. Fellow students said he was generally quiet and kept to himself, rarely engaging in extended conversations. He was believed to have been under depression for some time due to unspecified reasons.
When repeated knocks on his door went unanswered, his friends peeped through the skylight above the room and saw him hanging from the ceiling fan. They immediately alerted the hostel authorities, who in turn informed the university administration and the police.
While hostel staff, university authorities and police reached the spot soon after receiving the information, the body was recovered only after the family members arrived in the wee hours of Wednesday. After postmortem, his family took his body to Kutra.
The exact reason behind the alleged suicide is yet to be ascertained. No suicide note has been recovered so far, officials said. While the student’s semester examination was underway, he had a gap on Tuesday. His last examination was scheduled for Wednesday.
Family members said he had last spoken to his elder sister on Tuesday evening and had informed her about some issues with his smartphone which was causing inconvenience in his studies.
Teachers also described him as a calm and reserved student who came from a modest background. He was preparing for the NET examination and was possibly under immense pressure.
IIC of Burla police station SK Baliarsingh said a case of unnatural death has been registered and investigation is underway. The family has not alleged any foul play. “However, we are exploring all possible angles,” he added.