Twenty-two-year-old Kanika Sharma, president of the Vivekanand College Students' Union, died under mysterious circumstances at Vivek Vihar here on Thursday just hours after she took a carbonated drink at the college canteen. The police believe it to be a natural death.
Kanika, a B.A. (final) student of the Delhi University college, took a carbonated drink in the college canteen around 9 a.m. and complained of uneasiness. Soon she started vomiting and fell unconscious. Some of her friends then took her to ESI Hospital where she was kept on ventilator and declared dead around noon.
Prima facie, the police have ruled out any foul play and suspect it to be a case of natural death. “According to the victim's family, she had a history of low blood pressure. It seems the carbonated drink that she had proved fatal because of her medical condition. We have preserved the drink for forensic examination. It appears to be a case of natural death. But we are waiting for the post-mortem to completely rule out foul play.” No case has been registered so far.
Ms. Sharma, a National Students' Union of India member, was a resident of Raj Nagar in Ghaziabad. Her father Bahadur Sharma works at a school in Ghaziabad.
Meanwhile, Delhi University authorities, however, clearly stated that there was no foul play involved in the death of the girl. “She told her friends that she felt weak and wanted something to eat, they proceeded to the canteen where they ordered snacks and cold drinks. After some time, the girl felt uncomfortable and collapsed after which, she was rushed to the hospital by the teachers and students,” said university Proctor Usha Rao.
“They managed to reach the hospital but she died almost immediately. They discovered that she had a medical history of blood pressure… the college authorities are very upset over this tragedy and have already had a condolence meeting, they are in the process of writing an official report which they will be sending me later” she added.
Meanwhile, the Delhi University Students' Union president Ajay Chikkara said: “We went to meet the principal but they said she is abroad, then we went to meet the Vice-Chancellor and the Proctor but they said they are busy with the flower show and wont meet us…we are going to protest outside the college tomorrow and are demanding a high-level enquiry by the university as well as a proper investigation by the police,” he said, adding that the girl was president of the college students' union and that her death was very mysterious.
