21-year-old student dies by suicide in hostel room

Mumbai: A 21-year-old student of National Skill training Institute (NSTI) reportedly died by suicide in a hostel room in Chunabhatti area on Tuesday evening

Mumbai: A 21-year-old student of National Skill training Institute (NSTI) reportedly died by suicide in a hostel room in Chunabhatti area on Tuesday evening.

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The deceased has been identified as Ankit Singh, a native of Kanpur. He joined the institute for a one-year craft instructor training scheme course in June. He was staying in the institute’s hostel along with two other students. One of his roommates had gone to his native place and Singh was staying with only one roommate.

According to the police, on the day of the incident, Singh and his roommate had gone for classes in the morning. When Singh’s roommate returned in the evening, he found the room locked from inside. He knocked on the door several times, but did not get a response.

He then informed the hostel staff and broke open the door. They found Singh hanging from the ceiling fan. Singh was rushed to a hospital, where he was declared dead. His post-mortem report suggested that he died of asphyxia due to hanging, Hemraj Rajput, deputy commissioner of police, said.

Meanwhile, Singh’s family has alleged that he was murdered and demanded a proper probe in the incident, wherein the Chunabhatti police have registered an accidental death report (ADR) as per the preliminary investigation.

His mother Geeta Singh said, “We received a call from the principal around 6pm on Tuesday saying that Ankit was in the ICU. The institute had arranged railway tickets and we reached Mumbai on Wednesday night. We were not even allowed to see my son’s face and were pressured to conduct a funeral in Mumbai. We wanted to take the body to Kanpur.”

“We are suspecting some foul play. It is not a suicide and he was killed, and police should probe this matter properly,” she said.

Anil Desai, senior police inspector, Chunabhatti police station, said, “There is no foul play as per the initial probe and no suicide note has been recovered, but we will investigate the matter from all possible angles.”