Little did they know on Sunday that their friend Vidya was treating them to the last party of her life. Their host knew it well.
Engineering student Vidya, aged 20, allegedly committed suicide at her hostel in KR Puram. Police on Monday said that she had failed to clear her fifth semester examinations.
A native of Madikeri in Kodagu, Vidya was a student of Computer Science at the Cambridge Institute of Technology in Basavanagar near KR Puram. Police said depression over her failure in clearing the examinations forced her to take the extreme step.
“The results of her fifth semester exams were published online. She failed in three subjects. This seems to be the reason behind her suicide,” police sub-inspector Basavaraj said.
The girl had left a death note addressed to her father. Vidya had written that she had not prepared well for the exams and could not face failure, police said.
A leading psychiatrist said instances of students committing suicide due to exam-related stress were becoming common.
“Exam-related stress is common among students aged below 20. With maturity, the stressful phase tapers off,” Dr MJ Thomas, consultant psychiatrist, Sagar Hospital, said.
Vidya’s father Chandrappa, who arrived here from Madikeri, said she had earlier telephoned him to say that she did not do well in the exams. “She sounded worried, but we never thought she was planning to do this.”
The police, however, thought otherwise. They felt that Vidya’s was a well-planned suicide. Investigators were viewing the treat she had given to her friends in college as a farewell party — a party her friends would never forget.
Vidya was sharing a room in the hostel with two others, Anupama and Pavithra. Anupama had gone home for the holidays, while Pavithra slept in their room on the second floor, after Vidya had told her that she would be in the study room.
Pavithra woke up at 6.30 am and went in search of Vidya. On finding the study room locked from inside, she informed Gayatri, the hostel warden. When repeated knocks on the door elicited no response, they informed the police.
The police arrived at the scene around 8.30 am and forced open the door to find Vidya hanging from the fan, using a dupatta. Police said the student might have committed suicide after midnight.
Vidya’s relatives reportedly told the police that she had attempted suicide while she was in the 10th standard.
Roopam, a cousin of Vidya and her girl’s local guardian, said she was a bright student. “She was one of the toppers in school and she was doing well in engineering too. I still cannot understand
why she did this.”
Vidya’s relatives took her body to Madikeri after a post-mortem examination at the Dr BR Ambedkar Hospital here.
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