An undergraduate female student of the Gujarat Adani Institute of Medical Science (GAIMS) in Bhuj town of Kutch allegedly died by suicide Wednesday, with police alleging that she was suffering from anxiety disorder.
Devangi Patel, who was in the second year of her MBB0S course, didn’t respond to knocks on the door of her hostel room in GAIMS campus by a fellow woman student around 11.30 am. The other student informed hostel warden who broke the window pane of the room to see Patel hanging by her dupatta tied to the ceiling fan, officers of the B Division police station said. “She was alone in her room as her two roommates were away. One of her friends met Patel in her room around 7.30 am. But later on, Patel locked herself in the room and hanged herself,” said inspector K C Vaghela, who is in charge of B Division police station.
Patel was a native of Ahmedabad city. Citing the statement given by Patel’s father, Vaghela said that the student was suffering from anxiety disorder. “The family had called her back to Ahmedabad for treatment and asked her not to sit for the examination. However, she insisted that she was fine and returned to college. Three days ago, she was treated by a doctor at G K General Hospital also,” Vaghela said, adding that the police had not recovered any suicide note.
Prof A N Ghosh, Dean of GAIMS, said that the college learnt from her father about her illness. “After the incident, her father told us that she was suffering from a mental illness and was receiving treatment from a psychiatrist… She was a brilliant student and we didn’t have much information about her illness.” The B Division police has registered a case of accidental death.