Medical aspirant’s death: Diary yields key clues

Patna: The special investigation team (SIT) probing the suspicious death of an 18-year-old medical aspirant recovered her personal diary from her hostel room in Patna, providing investigators with new details about the intense emotional and psychological pressures she faced in the months leading up to her death.The victim, a resident of Jehanabad, was staying in a girls’ hostel in Patna while preparing for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). She was found unconscious in her room on Jan 6 and, despite medical efforts, died on Jan 11. Her diary entries describe her struggle with examination pressure, family conflicts, including fights between her parents and arguments with her brother, and a past relationship.

One entry written around four months earlier explicitly mentioned thoughts of suicide, indicating prolonged distress.A senior police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the contents of the diary pointed towards suicide with additional clues emerging from the victim’s phone received from her uncle. The phone, he said, showed deletions in chats and messages. “The team got some clues, which cannot be shared at this moment,” the police officer added.

The investigation is continuing as police piece together the sequence of events leading to the death.The initial medical report suggested that the girl had allegedly died by suicide. A urine test indicated the presence of sleeping pills, which were later recovered from her hostel room. Her cellphone history showed internet searches related to poisons, sleeping pills and medicines for anxiety and stress between Dec 24 and Jan 4.What initially appeared to be a case of suicide has since taken a darker turn with the PMCH post-mortem report, conducted by a medical board, stating that sexual violence could not be ruled out. This finding triggered outrage and protests, following which Bihar DGP Vinay Kumar constituted a high-level SIT to probe the matter further. The post-mortem report noted genital and physical injuries while the hospital reserved the final cause of death pending receipt of all treatment papers.“We are not denying the possibility of sexual assault in her past, but it seems that no such incident took place here in Patna or in the hostel. There is no break in the chain from Jan 5, the day she reached Patna. From the station to her hostel, her every move was accounted for. We also do not yet know the age of any injury, if one exists, or the exact place of occurrence. It might have happened while she was at her home in Jehanabad.

That aspect remains under investigation, and the victim’s family are also under the scanner,” the police officer said.The SIT is awaiting the post-mortem report from AIIMS, along with DNA test results, to establish the cause of death and either rule out or substantiate the family’s allegations of assault.Police have traced the girl’s activities in Jehanabad to gather further clues and said the investigation remains ongoing.

While no arrests have been made so far, the probe has expanded to examine the possible involvement of relatives.Meanwhile, the SIT, led by the Secretariat’s SDPO I Anu Kumari, visited the girls’ hostel on Tuesday and conducted an inspection lasting around 30 minutes. After the visit, the team locked the hostel gate and left. This was the third visit by the SIT to the place of occurrence as part of the investigation.