Student found dead at BITS Pilani Goa campus hostel; cops launch probe

Panaji: A 20-year-old student of the BITS Pilani campus in Goa has been found dead in his hostel room, police said on Sunday. The student, Kushagra Jain, was found lying unresponsive on his bed in a sideward sleeping position in the hostel room at Vasco in South Goa district at around 11 am on Saturday, a senior police official said. "We have sent the body for postmortem and the exact cause of death would be known after that," he said, adding a case of unnatural death has been registered at Verna police station.

Jain, native of Uttar Pradesh, was a third year student of economics and computer science at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS)-Pilani campus in Vasco. Quoting students whose statements were record, the police official said the student played table tennis on the campus the previous night before returning to his room. The room was locked from inside and when there was no response from him on Saturday morning, the authorities were informed who broke open the door to find him dead, the official said.

In a media statement issued here, BITS Pilani said they are deeply saddened by the loss of one of their students. "Kushagra Jain (native of UP), 3rd year student of Economics and Computer Science, was found in an unresponsive state on his bed when his room was opened at around 11am, and the medical team confirmed that he had passed away in his sleep," the statement said.

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The police were informed and have initiated the required procedures to ascertain the cause of death, and "we are fully cooperating", the institute said. "The loss of a young life is an irreparable tragedy, and the entire campus community is deeply shocked and grieved. Our thoughts and prayers are with Kushagra's family, his friends, and all members of our community who are affected by this sudden loss," the statement said.