HYDERABAD: A 29-year-old research scholar at the University of Hyderabad committed suicide early Thursday morning, reportedly because of a failed love affair. D Naresh Kumar Reddy, fourth year PhD scholar in Animal Sciences, consumed a chemical and succumbed hours later as medical treatment proved ineffective.
According to his close friends, Naresh is said to have consumed some chemical, possibly Sodium Azide, and knocked on some friends doors at 2 a.m in the morning before collapsing. He was immediately rushed to Apollo hospital in Jubilee hills. But he was declared dead at 5 a.m and his body was taken to the Osmania General Hospital, police said.
Even as Reddy, who hails from Kurnool district, wrote in a suicide note that "no one was responsible for his death and there was no particular reason", he reportedly decided to take the extreme step due to heartbreak, Chandanagar subinspector of Police Buchi Reddy said.
Hours before taking his own life, Reddy, had changed his Facebook relationship status to 'Single' and 'liked' a Facebook page called "HeArT BrOkEn BeCaUsE Of LoVe UnSpOkEn". Incidentally, a couple of weeks ago, his Facebook profile reveals that he had shared a Tamil song via a group called 'Love failure federation', giving indications about the happenings in his life. His friends also feel that academics could not have been behind the suicide as he was a good student and a CSIR fellow. "He was a very bright student and had a promising future," said Kapil, one of his friends.
In his suicide note, Reddy is said to have apologised to his family, friends and guide Dr Aparna Dutta Gupta, under whom he was pursuing research. Strangely, Reddy was even reading articles related to his research topic on the internet minutes before he consumed the chemical.
Hostel inmates of New Research Scholars' Hostel recalled seeing a very gloomy Reddy in the last few days, even though he was generally known to be a very reserved person. Most of the University students seemed to be unaware of the incident till student organizations put up condolence posters.