Ranchi: An engineering student from BIT-Mesra here hanged himself on Sunday, World Suicide Prevention Day eve, a brief note on his bed saying academic pressure was more than he could bear.

Mechanical engineering student Shaktidhar Tripathy, 21, was found hanging in his hostel room by fellow boarders, including cousin Ambar Tripathy, around 12.30pm. Students, who had been knocking on the door for long without getting a response, peered through the ventilator to see the body hanging from the ceiling fan. Then, they broke open the door.

Dr Dilip Upadhyay on the campus dispensary declared Shaktidhar dead, Mesra police outpost in-charge Virendra Kumar said.

A two-line note in Hindi on Shaktidhar's bed said he was unable to bear the academic pressure and was feeling "sharmindgi (humiliation)".

Shatkidhar, who hailed from Chitrakoot in Uttar Pradesh, was in his third year of engineering. Cousin Ambar, from the same town, and other hostel inmates said Shaktidhar was a good student.

"We will take help of handwriting and forensic experts to confirm the deceased wrote the note," the policeman said.

Police have recorded an unnatural death case. The body has been sent to RIMS for post-mortem.