A 21-year-old Chartered Accountancy (CA) student allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself on Sunday morning after she failed to clear one of her exams.

A suicide note in which she sought "forgiveness" from her mother was also recovered from her room in an East Delhi hostel.

According to police, the incident was reported from a private hostel run from house number 87 in Laxmi Nagar where the student, identified as Upma Singh, was found hanging from the ceiling fan. Singh had moved to Delhi from her home in Bihar to prepare for her CA exams.

"The girls used to live on rent on single-occupancy-per room basis. At 11.30 am, her friend — another CA student from Bangalore who lives in a room adjacent to Singh's — went there to borrow notes. She knocked a few times but when Singh did not respond, the friend peeped in through the window and saw her hanging by her dupatta," a senior official investigating the matter said.

Singh's friend immediately alerted their landlord, Gangadas, who rushed upstairs, broke open the door and alerted police.

Police suspect Singh had hanged herself either late Saturday night or in the wee hours of Sunday as her body had become very stiff when it was found. Her body has been preserved at Sabzi Mandi mortuary.

Singh's friends told police that she had failed an exam held on February 5 and was very disturbed since then. She used to keep to herself and often broke down.

"She was suffering from depression after failing the exam. In the suicide note, she apologised to her mother for failing and not being a good daughter," the officer said.

Police have alerted Singh's family in Bihar. Her local guardian and a relative D K Singh, who retired from the Indian Army and lives in Palam, was also informed.

"Upma's family belongs to Chhapra in Bihar. At 12 pm, I received a call from my home informing me about her suicide. She is from a very educated family and studied in Sarvodaya Vidyalya, where she was a scholarship student throughout. Her father used to be a government-school teacher but is paralysed now while her mother is a housewife," D K Singh told Newsline.

Inquest proceedings under section 176 of CrPC have been initiated in the incident by officials of Shakarpur police station, which is located in East Delhi.