Hyderabad, Nov. 9 -- In a tragic incident, a second-year student of Delhi's Lady Shri Ram (LSR) College for Women died by suicide at her home on the outskirts of Hyderabad last week. The 19-year-old Aishwarya, pursuing Mathematics honors at the prestigious institute, cited financial troubles in a purported suicide note.

For a working-class family that was struggling to come to terms with the lockdown-induced financial strain, Aishwarya felt her education was placing an undue financial burden. "My family is incurring a lot of expenses because of me. I am a burden on them. My education is a burden. I can't live without education," she wrote in her suicide note.

Aishwarya's parents - Srinivas Reddy and Sumathi - had mortgaged their small h...