Patna: Nearly a month after the suspicious death of a NEET aspirant from Jehanabad, the main gate of Shambhu Girls’ Hostel in Patna was unlocked on Tuesday in the presence of police, allowing students and their families to collect their belongings.
A police vehicle drew a crowd as officers arrived at the hostel following a court order permitting access to the premises. Other students who had vacated the hostel after the January incident returned with their parents. A man, his face covered, unlocked the main gate under police supervision, after which officers escorted students inside to retrieve personal items left behind.
Among those present was Jitendra Kumar, who had travelled from Arwal with his daughter. He said his daughter had been preparing for NEET in Patna and left the hostel immediately after the incident, leaving her belongings inside. “We came with the police to collect her things. The staff were called to open the lock,” he said.
The case relates to the death of a NEET aspirant at the hostel on the night of January 5–6. The student, originally from Jehanabad, had been living in Patna to prepare for medical entrance examinations. Her death triggered widespread outrage across Bihar.
Initially, hostel authorities described the incident as a suicide, though no suicide note was recovered. Police statements in the early days characterised it as a routine case. As the investigation progressed, however, the official narrative shifted multiple times, with references to suspicious circumstances and later to possible sexual assault and murder. The changing accounts drew criticism and fuelled protests demanding justice for the student’s family.
Pappu Yadav, the MP from Purnia, met the family and called for a thorough investigation and action against those responsible. Even after more than three weeks, the special investigation team had not publicly clarified key aspects of the case, including the precise sequence of events.
DNA samples were reportedly collected from multiple individuals, including the hostel owner, his son, staff members and relatives of the deceased. However, officials indicated that the tests had not yielded conclusive results.
Twenty-six days after the incident, CCTV footage emerged showing the student being carried in an unconscious state while being taken to hospital on January 6. The delayed release of the footage intensified political pressure, prompting the government led by Nitish Kumar to recommend a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the case.
The investigation remains ongoing, with the student’s family and civil society groups continuing to seek clarity and accountability.
