Baripada: Tension prevailed following death of a Nursing student allegedly due to suicide in Morada block of Odisha's Mayurbhanj district late on Sunday night. The 22 year-old girl, identified as Ankita Patra, daughter of one Nirmal Kumar Patra, hailed from Gadia village under Shuliapada police station limits in Morada. She was pursuing a BSc Nursing degree at Mayurbhanj Pharmacy College and had returned home for the Kumar Purnima holidays.

According to her family members, they had gone to bed after dinner on Sunday night. However, they reportedly heard Ankita talking to someone on her mobile phone inside her room until late at night. As she had an examination scheduled for the following day, they assumed she was studying.

Police reach spot, begin probe

Early next morning, Ankita's mother found her hanging from a ceiling fan in her room, with an apron tied around her neck. She raised an alarm and called nearby residents for help. They cut the apron and brought Ankita down, but she had already died.

On receiving information, Assistant Sub-Inspector Biswaranjan Parida of Suliapada police station reached the spot. A case of unnatural death was registered and the body subsequently sent to Pandit Raghunath Murmu Medical College and Hospital at Rangamatia for post-mortem examination.

Preliminary police findings indicated that Ankita had cut her left hand repeatedly with a blade after speaking to someone on her mobile phone before taking the extreme step. Police have seized her mobile phone as part of the investigation.