A final year student of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras allegedly committed suicide Saturday by hanging from the ceiling of his room, police said.

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Shahul Kornath (23), from Malappuram in Kerala, was pursuing his B Tech-M Tech (dual degree) Naval architecture programme, police and the institute administration said.

No suicide note was found from his room, police added. However, they suspected that he could have been under “some kind of pressure due to low attendance”, but added that a detailed probe was on.

Meanwhile, the institute mourned the student’s death as an “irreparable loss.

“This is indeed an irreparable loss to not just the institute and the family, but society as a whole. May his soul rest in peace,” it said in a statement, adding that it was cooperating with the authorities on the matter.

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According to police, Shahal committed suicide as he feared he would not be allowed to appear for the final year exam since he had attendance shortage. The IIT-M administration had recently informed his parents about his attendance short.

On Saturday morning, Shahal’s friend knocked on the door of his room. As there was no response, the student informed hostel warden Raguram Reddy, who alerted the Kotturpuram police. The police broke open the door and saw his body hanging from a ceiling fan.

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The body was sent to the Government Royapettah Hospital (GRH) for autopsy. The police registered a case under Section 174 of CrPC (unnatural death).

On being informed, his brother was coming to Chennai from Bengaluru to receive the body, police said.