Patna: An 18-year-old student in Bihar has died by suicide after expressing distress over her health and upcoming board examinations, police said.
Ananya Kumari, a Class 12 student affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), was found hanging in her home in Ara late on Thursday night. Officers from Nawada police station said a note recovered from the scene suggested she had been struggling with illness and anxiety over her Physics examination, which was scheduled for Friday.
In the handwritten note, she apologised to her parents and siblings and wrote that she felt unable to continue or sit the exam, adding that she was taking the step of her own accord.
Family members said Ananya had been unwell with jaundice in recent weeks. Her uncle told reporters that she had eaten dinner and gone to her room before later locking the door. Relatives broke in after becoming concerned and found her hanging from a ceiling fan. She was taken for postmortem examination at Sadar hospital before the body was handed over to the family.
Her father, Satish Kumar Pandey, a railway employee, said she had appeared distressed about her studies but had been reassured that she could take the examination at a later date if she did not feel ready. “If you don’t feel like it, don’t take the exam. Take it next time,” he said he had told her.
Police said an investigation is under way. Ananya was the second of three siblings. Her mother, Pinky Devi, and siblings were inconsolable, relatives said.
The student was also the niece of Bhojpuri actor Om Prakash Ojha, known professionally as OP Kashyap, who has appeared in films including Sangharsh and Son of Bihar, and had a supporting role in Gangs of Wasseypur.
The death comes days after another student in Bihar died by suicide in separate circumstances. Komal Kumari, a matriculation candidate from Masaurhi, allegedly jumped from a moving train after she was denied entry to her examination centre for arriving after the 9am reporting time, according to local officials. Police are also investigating that incident.
