Kochi: A 20-year-old girl jumped off the bridge at Aroor, near here, in an apparent attempt to commit suicide early on Friday morning. Her fate is unknown though Panangad Police said they have started rescue operations.

The police, who reached the site as soon as they received a phone call from eyewitnesses, recovered the girl's bag and identity card from the balustrade of the bridge spanning the vast backwater.

The girl has been identified as Jisna Johnson, a native of Eramallur in Alappuzha district, and a third-year student of Civil Draughtsman course at the Cochin Technical College, Kaloor, in Ernakulam.

Her father is Johnson of Kattithara, Eramallur, as per the college identity card.

Jisna jumped into the backwater at 7:30am.

According to eyewitnesses, the girl was on her way to college. “She was walking on the footpath very casually. She stopped at the middle of the bridge, stared at the lake for a while and removed her college bag and id card. She jumped off the bridge all of a sudden,” one of them said.

“By 7:30 am heavy undercurrents are noticed in the water here. We will be extending our search to other parts shortly,” local residents who gathered at the site said.

Aroor, a gateway to Kochi, is at the northern tip of the coastal Alappuzha district.