Student found dead in hostel room

A young computer science student was found dead in a hostel of Hamdard University (HU) on Tuesday evening. This is the second time within a month that such an incident has been reported from varsities in Karachi.

According to police, the body of 20-year-old Aman Kumar was recovered from his room in Block 2 of the HU’s boys hostel near Northern Bypass in the Manghopir area and shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for an autopsy.

“The body, appearing to be three to four days old, was in an advanced stage of decomposition”, Karachi Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed told The News, adding that the cause of death observed in the autopsy has been reserved.

Kumar, belonging to Shahdadkot, was a second-year student at the HU’s computer science department and he lived in his hostel room alone. Speaking with The News, Manghopir SHO Majid Alvi said that the circumstantial evidence and doctor’s initial findings suggested that that the victim died of natural causes. He added that Kumar had not been in contact with anyone, including family and friends, in the past few days, after which his friend went to the hostel for checking on him. After the student did not respond to repeated knocks on his door, the friend informed the varsity administration. The SHO said that police were investigating the case, while the body was sent to the deceased’s hometown following the autopsy.

Earlier, another young student, 26-year-old Mukhtar, was found dead in a toilet at University of Karachi on October 23. Hailing from Swat, he was a student of organic chemistry at the KU’s International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences. The KU’s campus secretary Dr Salman Zafar said the student had died a natural death.

HU expresses grief

The HU’s vice chancellor, registrar and engineering sciences and technology dean expressed grief over the sudden death of the 20-year-old student, a statement issued by the varsity read, adding that the family of the student was informed promptly after the recovery of his body.

The statement read the body was handed over to an uncle of the student following the competition of necessary legal and medical procedures, and no suspicion of a foul play had emerged in the initial investigation.

It added that the student’s family did not want to register an FIR and declined to conduct a postmortem examination, which was still carried out being a legal requirement. The HU has formed a three-member committee headed by its registrar to investigate the case further.