(Top) Family members of Jhunilata Malla, who was found dead at Image Hostel (below) in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 25: The deaths of two college girls in a single day have rocked the city.

While an engineering student was found dead in her hostel room yesterday morning, an MBA student allegedly hanged herself from the ceiling fan of her hostel room yesterday evening. However, the family members suspect foul play.

Yesterday evening, Laxmi Sagar police recovered the body of a 20-year-old MBA student hanging from the ceiling fan of her hostel room at Jayadurga Nagar in Bamikhal. The girl was identified as Jhunilata Malla, who hailed from Padmapur village in Kendrapara district. She was a first-year MBA student at a private college in the city.

The family members of the deceased alleged that she had been murdered. They have lodged a complaint with the police demanding a probe into the death. Other girls staying in that hostel have left following the incident.

College authorities said while her friends had gone to attend classes on Monday, she was alone in her room. When they returned around 5.30pm, they found her hanging from the ceiling fan with a dupatta around her neck.

The students called the hostel warden who, in turn, informed the college authorities, who eventually notified the police and the girl’s family.

Coordinator of the institute Hemant Kumar Prusty said he got to know about the matter around 6pm. “I informed the police who rushed to the hostel. I also informed the girl’s father. As they took time to reach the spot, the police removed the body,” he said.

“We have seized a suicide note, a mobile phone, her dupatta and some other papers from the girl’s bag,” said a police officer.

The family members, who reached the spot after nearly three hours, were unhappy over the body being removed. “They should have waited till we reached the spot. We suspect that she might have been killed and then hanged to make her death look like suicide,” said the girl’s father Bikali Charan Malla, adding that the note seized by the police was fake because it did not match his daughter’s handwriting.

The bereaved family also alleged that when they went to lodge a complaint with the Laxmi Sagar police last night, they did not register it.

Jhunilata had taken admission at the institute at Rasulgarh this year. She had been staying in the college hostel at Jayadurga Nagar, where around 150 girls stay.

The deceased’s family members met the deputy commissioner of police (DCP) and complained against the Laxmi Sagar police for not registering their case. Later, the DCP instructed an assistant commissioner of police to look into the matter.

The police said they have registered a case of unnatural death and investigation was on. “We are waiting for the post-mortem report to know the exact cause of death,” said a police officer.