Sneha Debnath, a 19-year-old student from Tripura who had been missing for six days in the national capital, was found dead on July 13, police said. Her body was recovered from the Yamuna River near the Geeta Colony area in east Delhi.
A handwritten note recovered by authorities, believed to have been written by Sneha before her death, suggests she died by suicide. In the note, she described feeling overwhelmed by a personal “burden” that had become “unbearable.” She made it clear that she was fully aware of her actions, acted of her own will, and held no one responsible for her death. She also explicitly ruled out any foul play.
The note further revealed that Sneha had planned her death in advance, stating her intention to jump from Delhi’s Signature Bridge – the same location where her cab driver confirmed dropping her off on the morning of July 7.
Sneha, a second-year BSc. Mathematics student at Delhi University’s Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College, lived with her family in the Paryavaran Complex in south Delhi. According to her sister Bipasha Debnath’s missing person complaint, Sneha had told their mother, Pinki Debnath, that she was going to drop a friend, Pitunia, at Sarai Rohilla Railway Station.
She left home around 5:15 am in a cab driven by Subhe Chandra. By 8:45 am, her phone was switched off. When Bipasha contacted Pitunia, she was told that the two never met that day. Bipasha then called the cab driver, who said he had dropped Sneha at Signature Bridge in Wazirabad.
Worried about a possible abduction, the family contacted police. A massive search operation was launched by Delhi Police and the NDRF across a seven-kilometre stretch of the Yamuna, but initial efforts yielded no results.
Later, police confirmed that Sneha’s last known location was near Signature Bridge. Eyewitnesses reported seeing a young woman standing on the bridge on the morning she disappeared.
A joint search operation by police and the NDRF, from Nigam Bodh Ghat to Noida, ultimately led to the discovery of her body.
