Student found unconscious at Scottish Church College hostel; dies

Kolkata: A fifth-semester student of Scottish Church College died under suspicious circumstances after being found unconscious at the women’s hostel in north Kolkata, prompting police to register an unnatural death case and begin an investigation.

The student, Rishita Banik (21), an undergraduate in Political Science from Tripura, was staying at the college hostel on Bidhan Sarani under the jurisdiction of Burtolla Police Station.

According to police sources, Banik had returned to the hostel around 9:30 pm on January 23 and told her roommate that she was feeling unwell before going to the sick room on the fourth floor. The next afternoon, when her mother failed to reach her on the phone, she contacted one of Banik’s roommates, who went to the sick room and found her lying unconscious on the floor.

She was rushed to Kolkata Medical College and Hospital, where she was admitted to the emergency department and later shifted to the intensive care unit. She was declared dead the same evening.

A preliminary post-mortem examination indicated the presence of a suspected foreign substance in her stomach. The final autopsy report is awaited to ascertain the cause of death.

An unnatural death case has been registered at Burtolla Police Station. No complaint has been lodged by the family or the hostel authorities so far.

College principal Madhumanjari Mandal said the student had not reported any serious illness earlier.

“The family was informed immediately and the police were notified by the hospital. The cause of death will be known after the post-mortem report,” she said.