Hyderabad: A 19 Year old girl Aishwarya Reddy, had asked for a laptop, even a second-hand one, to continue her college classes during the Covid-19 lockdown. But her family struggled with the request. Last Tuesday, when the family was gathered in their living room, Aishwarya went to the only other room and killed herself.

“Because of me my family has many expenses; I am a burden to them. My education is a burden. If I can’t study, I can’t live…Please try and ensure that the inspire scholarship is at least given for a year,” said her note in Telugu. Sumathi Reddy said the family never realised when she slipped away quietly. “She was going through mental stress due to our financial condition. She had to go to Delhi for her studies, all her friends had started going already, we were trying to take a loan but we could not arrange money. She went into depression,” she said.

Aishwarya was to receive her scholarship of ₹ 1.2 lakh in March but it was delayed, her family said. The inspire scholarship is granted by the centre’s Department of Science and Technology. “She wanted to sit for the civil services exam. She was worried that we cannot afford to finance her studies,” said her father.

Aishwarya’s younger sister Vaishnavi had dropped out of school so she could stay in college. She showed Aishwarya’s book full of pencil sketches. “In her spare time, she loved doing this,” said Vaishnavi. The tragedy took a political turn as the Students Federation of India blamed the central government for delaying the student’s scholarship.