Zambian's student death in Gujarat a suicide: Sushma

A Zambian student, who was found dead in Gujarat last week, had committed suicide, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Tuesday.

"I have got the report on the death of a Zambian national Zite Shakala from Government of Gujarat.

"Police investigations prima facie suggest that this is a case of suicide. A suicide note has been found at the scene of occurrence," she said in a series of tweets.

Jeetey Shakala, 21, who was a third year engineering student at Parul University in the Waghodia area of Vadodara, was found dead in his room in the international students' hostel on the campus on Saturday.

The incident comes in the wake of attacks on some Nigerian nationals last month in New Delhi's satellite township of Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh.

African envoys described the attack as "racist" and even threatened to move the UN and other international bodies over the issue.

The government has maintained that the attack cannot be dubbed racist pending completion of an investigation into the matter and described the African envoys' statement as "unfortunate".

--IANS

ab/vd