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NOIDA: She was anxious about her marks in English as she had left many questions unanswered. She had confined herself to her room after the test and would not talk much to her parents and brothers. On Friday last, Samistha Rout (18) was found hanging from the ceiling fan of her room.

When the CBSE Class 10 results were announced on Monday, Samistha had scored 82 in her English paper — the highest among her subjects.

A quiet child who won many accolades for her painting skills, Samistha’s parents said she had given “enough hints” that their daughter was extremely upset after writing her English paper. On Friday afternoon, her father Sarat Rout had gone to work and her mother Nirmala had left for her relative’s place in the neighbourhood.

When Nirmala returned home around 2pm, she found their 18-year-old daughter hanging from the fan with her dupatta tied around the neck.

Nirmala and Sarat took Samistha to the district hospital in Sector 30. By then, the girl had died.

Mukesh Kumar, sub-inspector and in-charge of Morna police outpost, said the cops were informed about the suicide by the hospital around 4.30pm on Friday. The autopsy revealed injury marks on the neck.

“She was upset over her performance in English. She feared she might not score well as she had left many questions unanswered. When she returned after writing the paper, she told us that the question paper was lengthy and in an attempt to answer some questions better, she had left the others. On Monday, when her school teachers checked her results and informed us, we were shocked to learn that she had scored the maximum in English,” an inconsolable Sarat told TOI on his way to their hometown in Odisha’s Kendrapara district.

While most students were jubilant after the exams were over, Samistha would mostly remain silent and keep to herself, he said. The family isn’t sure if there was any other trigger behind the extreme step.

“She wanted to become a fashion designer but I had advised against it. She was doing very good in painting and would regularly represent her school in different competitions. I advised her to become a teacher,” Sarat said.

A student of New Sainik Public School in Sector 63, Samistha has won three trophies, 30 certificates and innumerable accolades. While her two younger brothers go to Assissi Convent School in Sector 33, she couldn’t make it because of her non-English background.

Samistha has scored 82 in English, 79 in Hindi, 78 in social science, 61 in science and 50 in maths. While friends and relatives said they would often ask her to speak more in class, Samistha would keep to herself and would talk only when approached. “She would eat food only when nudged once or twice, otherwise not,” Sarat said.

Priyanka, her best friend in school, had spoken to Samistha for almost one and a half hours a day before her death, but she did not get any hint about her anxiety.

A school coordinator said the authorities had no information on Samistha as the classes were off for students who had appeared for the board exams.

Sarat, however, said that the school chairman had spoken to her after his daughter’s death and shared her condolences.

Dr Neharshi Srivastava, a Noida-based psychologist, said on Tuesday that in Samistha’s case, it is possible that the girl succumbed to her own expectations and those of her peers along with the fear of failure due to the cut-throat competition and social stigma attached to it.

“If any teenager is showing such signs, he or she should be encouraged and not demoralised. In case, one feels that the teenager is not responding well, professional help should be taken immediately,” she said.

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