A 19-year-old student was found dead by suicide on Sunday in Nellikuzhi, Kothamangalam. The deceased, Nandana Hari, a resident of Mankulam, Idukki, is the daughter of Hari and Siji. A first-year BBA student at Indira Gandhi College of Arts and Science, Nellikuzhi, she was found hanging in her hostel room by her friends.

The Kothamangalam police have registered a case under Section 194 (unnatural death) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The body was shifted to the Ernakulam Government Medical College Hospital for post-mortem examination after completing the inquest procedures. No suicide note was recovered from the spot.

Nandana, who usually visited home every weekend, did not go home this week. She had last visited on November 3 and called her family on Friday evening, saying she needed ₹31,000 to pay her college fees. The family transferred the amount the same day.

“Nandana was a very active and well-behaved girl. No one knows what led her to take such an extreme step. We also found that the messages on her phone were deleted,” Veliyampara ward member Juli Joseph told Onmanorama.

She is survived by her father Hari, a daily-wage worker, and her mother Siji, who runs a small shop. The body will be handed over to the family after the post-mortem examination.