Police investigate a student's suicide in wardrobe

By Tom Qian  |   2008-12-30  |     ONLINE EDITION

A UNIVERSITY student was found dead in the wardrobe of a rented house yesterday and police is investigating the case, a local newspaper reported today.

A property management worker and a teacher found the student, surnamed Zhou, from northwest Gansu Province, died in a 1.5-meter-high wardrobe at about 4pm yesterday with his head in the wardrobe and his body outside. A rope around his neck was attached to a hanger bar inside the wardrobe, the Oriental Morning Post reported.

Zhou committed suicide, police said after preliminary investigation.

One of Zhou's classmates in the School of Resource and Environmental Engineering of East China University of Science and Technology said it was difficult to understand because he received Zhou's short message three days ago. "Since he wanted to keep contact with classmates then, why did he choose to commit suicide?"

The third-year student missed all the examinations from last Friday, which aroused the attention of his classmates and the school.

Some classmates said Zhou was an introvert and might have commited suicide due to mounting pressure in study.

Zhou rented the apartment near his school from a teacher about four months ago.