Bhubaneswar, July 13: Nayapalli police today recovered the body of a nursing student from her hostel room in Nilakantha Nagar. The police claimed it was a case of suicide.

The girl, identified as 19-year-old Lipina Dhal from Jajpur district, was a first-year student of nursing at a private college in the city. Her hostel mates said they grew suspicious when they found her sleeping till late in the morning. Around 10am, when they tried to wake her up she did not respond. Then they informed the police.

Her body was sent to Capital Hospital. The police said they had informed the parents of the girl who lived in Jajpur. “After they reach here, the post-mortem would be conducted,” said a police officer.

The police said they noticed foam coming out of the girl’s mouth, which indicated the possibility of poisoning. From preliminary investigation, it seemed to be a case of suicide but the reason of her death was not known, said the officer. Even her hostel mates were tight-lipped about the cause of her death.

“She was fine last night. However, we found her sleeping till late this morning. When we tried to wake her up she did not get up and her body had begun to stiffen,” said a friend of the girl.

The police have registered a case of unnatural death. “We are waiting for the family members of the girl. They may have something to say on the matter,” said a police officer.

Sources said nobody from the girl’s family had reached the city till late evening. “We hope they arrive tomorrow. Then we would hand over the body to the family members after post-mortem,” said hospital sources.

In another incident, the Nayapalli police recovered the body of a woman hanging from the ceiling of her living room this morning in Nayagarh sahi of Saliasahi. But the police said circumstantial evidences suggested that she had been murdered.

Police sources said the woman, identified as Deepa Behera, 22, was found hanging from the ceiling with a rope. But the lower half of her body was touching the ground and there was blood on the floor.

The husband of the victim, Abakash Behera, who works as a garage mechanic in Kalpana Square, has been absconding since morning.

Sources said the couple had been staying in the area for the last two months. They had rented the house of Trinath Pradhan who said he had never seen the couple quarrelling. Pradhan lodged a complaint with the police. The latter sent the body for post-mortem.