Agartala: The death of 19-year-old Sneha Debnath, a promising student from Delhi University whose body was recovered from the Yamuna River nearly a week after she went missing, has sent shockwaves through her family and hometown of Sabroom in South Tripura. The second-year student of Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College had disappeared on July 7, prompting a desperate search that ended in heartbreak on Sunday with the recovery of her body by a joint team of Delhi Police and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
Sneha hailed from Bhuratali village under Sabroom subdivision, where her father, Pritish Debnath—a former Army personnel—had long harboured dreams of giving his daughters a better future through education in the national capital. While Sneha was pursuing her undergraduate studies, her elder sister Bipasa is currently enrolled in a Master’s program in Mathematics.
The loss has left the Debnath family reeling. “I can’t say anything now… I am not in a position to talk to anybody about what is going on in my mind,” said a visibly broken Pritish Debnath in a brief comment to PTI. Sneha’s cousin Ashim Debnath, speaking from Sabroom, said the entire extended family is in a state of disbelief. “She had gone to Delhi for a bright future. Her sudden death is a deep personal loss for all of us. My uncle had planned to return home to Tripura after ensuring his daughters’ education was complete.”
Tripura Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha expressed his condolences on social media and said preliminary investigation points to suicide. “Initial investigation reveals she died by suicide by jumping into the river. A full-fledged probe is underway to know the reason behind the incident,” he wrote. He added that officials at Tripura Bhavan in Delhi had been directed to provide all necessary support to the bereaved family.
As the police continue their investigation into what led to the tragic incident, unanswered questions loom large. For a family that invested everything in the hope of securing a better life for their children, Sneha’s untimely death is not just a tragedy—it’s a haunting reminder of how fragile dreams can be.
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