Family members mourn Shanta as police investigate the case at Indira Lodge on Purulia Road, Ranchi, on MondayPictures by Prashant Mitra

A third-year student of St Xavier’s College, Ranchi, was found hanging from a fan in her rented room on Purulia Road in the heart of the capital on Monday morning.

A tell-tale, two-page suicide note found in her room at Indira Lodge suggested that 21-year-old Shanta Das — the daughter of a colliery employee in Dhanbad — chose the noose after being jilted in love. However, the Lower Bazar police said they would register a case of unnatural death only after speaking to her parents as neighbours had refused to accept the suicide theory.

Shanta, who was studying office management at St Xavier’s, was last seen with a friend around 9pm on Sunday. This morning, around 10 o’clock, when some of her friends came knocking so that they could go to college together, the girl didn’t answer the door.

“Shanta’s friends sensed something was wrong and informed her cousin, Sameer Lakra, who lives close by. Sameer too knocked on the door a few times and on not getting any response, broke open the door. The girl was hanging from the ceiling fan with her dupatta. Police were informed. They came and brought down the body. It was sent to RIMS (Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences) for post-mortem,” a local resident said.

Officer in charge of Lower Bazar police station A.K. Giri confirmed that a long message, scribbled in a diary, was found in the room, which “suggested that the girl committed suicide after being unsuccessful in love”.

He, however, refused to elaborate, saying the “matter was under investigation”.

A policeman at Lower Bazar said Shanta had not directly held anyone responsible for her death. But the suicide note clearly indicated abetment. “I had told you that I will kill you if you leave me. But, I love you very much. So, I am (killing myself),” the note read.

It also hinted at a love triangle. Shanta wrote: “Woh kabhi khush nahi rahegi jiske chalte hum apne ma-baba ko chhor kar ja rahe hai (She will not be happy, the person for whom I am being forced to leave my parents).”

The girl’s neighbours said they were not sure whether Shanta killed herself. “The ceiling of her room was high. Even if she stood on the bed she couldn’t reached the fan. When her body was recovered, her legs were more than a foot above the bed, but strangely there was no chair or stool to suggest that she had climbed on it to hang herself. There is something more to this seeming suicide,” said one of them, requesting anonymity.

Shanta’s father, Erik Das, a resident of Gohar Kenduadih in Dhanbad, has been informed of her death.

Ranchi SSP Saket Kumar Singh said Lower Bazar police would not register a case till her parents arrived. “Prima facie, it does appear to be a case of unnatural death since a suicide note has been recovered, but we will wait for the statement of her parents. Then, we will decide whether a case of suicide or murder will be registered,” he added.