A 20-year-old engineering student was found dead by suicide in the boys’ hostel of a well-known engineering college in Solapur city on Thursday night, police said.
The deceased was identified as Vidyadhar Prakash Shinde (20), a resident of Kalamb in Dharashiv district. He was a second-year student of Electronics and Telecommunication (E&TC) engineering and lived in the college hostel. The incident has cast a pall of gloom over the campus and his family.
According to police, the incident came to light after Shinde failed to make his routine nightly phone call to his father. Concerned by the absence of contact, his father called the hostel administration around 8.30 pm. Hostel staff then went to Shinde’s room and knocked repeatedly. When there was no response, they entered the room and found him hanging with a rope.
Police said Shinde was alone in the room at the time, as his roommates had gone to their native villages due to the Amavasya holiday. He had last spoken to his father around 2.30 pm on Thursday.
On receiving information, Solapur Taluka police reached the spot and carried out preliminary formalities before shifting the student to the Solapur Civil Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
The exact reason behind the suicide is not yet known. Police said further investigation is underway and necessary legal procedures are being followed.
Shinde is survived by his parents and a brother. His sudden death has left his family, friends, and the college community in deep shock and grief.