MANGALURU: A 19-year-old first-year nursing student allegedly hanged herself in the hostel of a city hospital, unwilling to “burden” her family with her education expenses. In a note left behind, Nina, from Kadumeni village in Kasaragod, said her mother was not being paid regularly due to the pandemic and she did not want to add to her difficulties.

Sources said Nina had enrolled for the 2020-21 BSc nursing course and was worried about being able to continue her studies as her mother was single-handedly running the household. Late Tuesday morning, she was found hanging in the hostel bathroom. “Since there were several allegations and suspicions about her death, I visited the college, interacted with her roommates at the hostel and met her parents and brother-in-law,” city police commissioner N Shashi Kumar said. The team recovered a note, in Malayalam.

In the note, Nina mentioned that Rs 75,000 has been paid as fees and on paying the remaining amount, she would be provided with the uniform. Due to the pandemic, her mother’s salary was affected and Nina felt it would be tough for her family to meet her expenses under these circumstances, police said. Nina’s mother Jancy works as a deposit collection agent in a bank in Taliparamba.

Nina wrote that it was difficult for her to focus on studies. Nina last called home around 7pm on Monday. “Nina told her mother that four students were not given the uniform because they had not paid the fees. Out of Rs 1.59 lakh, the family had paid Rs 75,000. Her mother had arranged another Rs 25,000 and was struggling to make up the remainder,” said Jyotsna, Nina’s cousin.

Nina, however, seemed to have little hope. In the note, she wrote about her suicide plan in detail: once her roommates left, she would turn on the tap in the bathroom to drown out other sounds and hang herself from the window.