A third-year information technology (IT) student of National Institute of Technology, Patna, identified as Shikha Shukla (22), is suspected to have committed suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan in her room (number 234) at the girls' hostel at the institute.

According to sources, the incident occurred when there was no one in her room. Her roommate Prerana Biswas had gone to write an internal examination at the institute.

Prakash Chandra, dean, students' welfare at NIT-Patna, said: "We came to know about the incident in the evening when her roommate opened the room and found the girl hanging from the ceiling fan." He added: "The girl was rushed to Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH)."

However, Pirbahore police station SHO Mohammed Qaiser Alam said: "The girl died while being taken to PMCH. The police have recovered a suicide note from her room. We are quizzing the girl's friend and other students of the campus." Sources said prima facie it appeared that the girl was suffering from depression and she committed suicide as she did not fare well in her examination.

"The girl reached her room in the afternoon after taking the examination. She was depressed as her exam was not up to expectations," a student of the institute said, adding: "Though the girl was suffering from depression she never shared her thoughts with anyone."

The student also said that the girl was academically sound but she was not satisfied with her performance.

The Pirbahore police, which rushed to the spot after receiving information are interrogating students. The girl hailed from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. Her family members have been informed of the incident. Sources said this was not the first time that a student from NIT-Patna had committed suicide. In 2012, a final-year student of the BTech (civil) of NIT-Patna, Puja Bharati, committed suicide by jumping from the Mahatma Gandhi Setu.

In 2011, a third-year student of IIT-Patna committed suicide by jumping to death from her hostel's top floor. The student, Yalavarthi Sweeya, a resident of Hyderabad was unhappy with her grades in an internal examination.

A teacher at NIT-Patna said: "We have observed that for engineering students, depression is common. The students try hard to get good scores but if they fail to do so, they go into depression."

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