Murder or suicide?: Woman found dead at PU hostel

Student applied for admission on sports quota and was called for trial

LAHORE: A prospective student of the University of Punjab (PU) was found dead in the girls hostel in an apparent suicide case on Tuesday.

Police and varsity administration said the woman committed suicide at the Girls’ Sports Hostel No 5 at the PU’s new campus possibly disheartened over some domestic issues.

Twenty-two-year-old Ayesha Furqan from Attock had applied for admission to the university on sports quota in an honours programme. She was called to the campus by the varsity administration for trials on October 23.

The woman was staying as a paying guest after the university’s approval at Hazrat Zainab (AS) Hostel with her cousin Sadia Khalid, who herself is a student of BS (Honours) Sports Sciences for the 2012-16 session.

Around noon on Tuesday, the student went back to her room after attending her morning classes and repeatedly knocked at the door without getting any response. Sadia informed the administration officials, who broke into the room to find the woman hanging from the ceiling fan.

The victim was still wearing her sports kit, suggesting she had either gone out in the field for practice or was planning to go out before her death.

A PU spokesperson told The Express Tribune that the woman had applied for admission on sports basis and also performed well during the trials.

Quoting the victim’s cousin, he said the woman had been struggling with some family issues and might have committed suicide.

A statement issued by the PU later said Ayesha had done her BA and applied for admission on the basis of excellence in athletics and cricket. The woman was an excellent athlete and a cricket player and had been selected. The merit lists of the trial were to be displayed within three or four days.

After the hostel administration approached her relatives, they learnt the family was going through some domestic problems and it might have become a reason for the woman to end her life, the statement added.

Sub-Inspector Dildar Husain of Muslim Town police station said the police were waiting for the family of the victim to decide for further course of action on the case. Police have recorded statements of the eyewitnesses and collected forensic evidence.

Earlier in January, a PU student was found dead in the washroom of a private hostel in Wahdat Colony. The 30-year-old woman was an MSc student at the PU’s mathematics department.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 26^th, 2016.