Missing Delhi University student found dead in Yamuna River after 6 days

The body of 19-year-old Sneha Debnath, a Delhi University student missing for six days, was retrieved from the Yamuna River near Geeta Colony flyover on Sunday evening, police said. Debnath, originally from Tripura, was a resident of Paryavaran Complex in South Delhi. A search had been launched following the registration of a missing person FIR at the Mehrauli Police Station. She was reported missing on July 7.

What happened?

According to police, Debnath left a handwritten note behind, indicating an intent to jump off the Signature Bridge, built across the Yamuna River. Police traced Debnath's movements through technical surveillance and confirmed her last known location as the Signature Bridge. The cab driver who dropped her there, as well as some eyewitnesses, said that they saw a woman standing on the bridge and later disappearing from the spot, they said.

A massive search operation was launched with the help of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and local police units, covering the Yamuna stretch from Nigam Bodh Ghat to Noida. Officials confirmed that her body was seen floating in the river under the Geeta Colony flyover. It was later identified by her family members.

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Police said Debnath had sent messages through email and messaging apps to her close friends in the early hours of July 7. Her friends informed investigators that she had been disturbed and emotionally distressed for the past few months. Her family and friends have also expressed concerns about the surveillance infrastructure in the area around the Signature Bridge.

A friend of Debnath claimed that none of the CCTV cameras on the Signature Bridge or in the vicinity were operational at the time she was spotted there. "Despite the Signature Bridge being a suicide-prone area, there is not a single CCTV camera that works on the bridge or in nearby areas," she alleged.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI)