India: 21-year-old university student kills female batchmate on campus, shoots self

A male student at Shiv Nadar University in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday (May 18) shot dead his female batchmate from point-blank range on the campus and later shot himself in his hostel room.

The students, both aged 21, were in third-year sociology degree class. Sneha Chaurasia was pronounced dead before reaching the hospital and Anuj Singh died in his room. The shooting happened 10 minutes after Anuj sent a confessional statement to the university group at 1:18 pm titled "my suicide note."

The two met outside Dining Hall 2 around 1 pm local time. Bothgirls’ and boys’ hostels are located on either side of the hall. In the CCTV footage, the students were seen on the other side of the frosted glass having a conversation during which he gave her a hug and then fires at her twice, appearing to hide his gun in his bag. As she collapses on the ground he stands over her for a few seconds, leans once to check and then walks away.

However, there are reports stating thatthe boy was giving her something, presumably a gift, and she could be seen refusing the parcel following which he shot her.

The police officials received a call from university students at 1:30 pm. After reaching the spot, the officials found Sneha covered in a pool of blood. She died of the two bullet injuries in her stomach and chest while Anuj shot himself in the head.

Dr Sunil Balyan, the medical superintendent at the Yatharth hospital where Sneha was brought to the emergency room said, "Our teams checked her and she was pronounced brought dead. Thereafter, we informed the police and handed over the body for postmortem."

What led to this tragic incident?

As per investigators, the twohave been in a relationship for a year and a halfbut broke up in December 2022. Thisleft Anuj shattered as she started seeing someone else. In the video recorded and uploaded on Google Drive, Anuj towards the end said he is in the third stage of brain cancer and does not have much longer to live. In the mail he sent, hemade a request to "not create any problems" for his and Sneha's parents and signed off by requesting forgiveness.

Police official Sarthak Sengar saidthat the officials are still investigating where Anuj got the pistol from.

Students alarmed over security leniency

Students told police officials that security personnel check bags and hostel rooms every day but no one knows how this tragedy happened.

A fourth-year student told Times of India newspaper that he heard gunshots from his hotel room.

He said, "The first time it came from near the canteen. Within a few minutes, I heard another shot, which was in the next building. The girl was in a bad condition when the guards found her. They called the ambulance and police."

While a PhD student at the university said that currently all undergraduate students are on a semester break and only master's and PhD students are in campus. However, some undergraduates stayed back with special permission from the professors.

It wasn't immediately clear if Sneha too was staying back or was about to leave in a day or two. Sneha's family is based in Kanpur and Anuj's in Amroha.

(With inputs from agencies)

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