Student found hanging in Patrakar Nagar hostel

Patna: A 17-year-old student, Shruti Kumari, was found hanging in her hostel room in the Patrakar Nagar police station area of the state capital on Tuesday. Police said no suicide note was found in the room.

However, one of her friends and a fellow hostel resident claimed that Shruti had been upset over issues involving her boyfriend. Further investigation is underway, police said.

Shruti, a native of Samastipur, had been staying at the private hostel in the Patrakar Nagar area since 2024.

Hostel owner Abha Singh said Shruti had dinner on Monday night and then went to her room. She had earlier completed her NEET coaching and returned to her village but came back to the hostel 10 days ago. “She was very quiet by nature,” Singh said.

Anshu, a student staying in the adjacent room, said Shruti was not seen on Tuesday morning.

“When I knocked on her door, there was no response. The door opened when pushed, and she was found hanging inside,” she said.

“She was last seen crying while talking to a boy on the phone. She complained that he was not talking to her. I told her not to do anything wrong and advised her to go home,” Anshu said.

According to Anshu, Shruti never revealed the boy’s name. “We advised her not to get too involved in such matters,” she added.

Anshu said Shruti passed Class XII this year and was planning to pursue graduation. She had not mentioned preparing for NEET recently.

Shruti’s maternal uncle, Amarendra Kumar Karan, said he learned about the death on Tuesday morning. He said Shruti’s mother is a teacher and father a farmer.

“After coming here, I learned that a boy had been harassing her for a long time. She was in depression because of that,” he said. The claim has not been verified by police.

Sadar SDPO-1 Abhinav said Patrakar Nagar police received information about the death around 9.30am. Police inspected the hostel room and seized the girl’s ID card, notes and mobile phone. No suicide note was found, he said.

“Shruti passed her Class XII examinations this year. We have information that she was preparing for competitive examinations. We will confirm the details after speaking to her parents. Police are investigating the case from all angles. Some other information has also come to light, but we cannot share it at this stage,” the SDPO-1 added.