A 19-year-old engineering student, Tejaswini, was found dead in her hostel room at Halligattu College of Engineering and Technology in Ponnampet, Kodagu district, on Wednesday. Police suspect suicide, citing a note recovered from the scene in which she reportedly mentioned overwhelming academic stress and six backlogs as reasons for her decision.

Tejaswini, a first-year student in the Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning stream, was the only daughter of Mahantappa, a resident of Raichur in northeastern Karnataka. Just three days before the incident, she had celebrated her birthday with friends and had distributed sweets again on Wednesday to those who missed the earlier celebration.

After attending classes, Tejaswini returned to her hostel room around 4 p.m. By 4:30 p.m., a classmate noticed her door was locked from the inside and raised an alarm after getting no response. The hostel supervisor was alerted, and when the door was forcibly opened, she was found unresponsive. The note discovered nearby cited academic pressure and her unwillingness to continue studies as the cause of distress.

Police officers from the Ponnampet station have conducted a preliminary investigation and are continuing their inquiry into the circumstances surrounding her death.

The incident has sparked renewed concern over mental health support in educational institutions, especially for students struggling with academic setbacks.