The deceased, R Prathiba (22), who was part of the team attending to COVID patients, was found dead in her hostel room.

As the doctor did not come out of the room on Friday morning, the hostel staff broke open the door and found her dead on the bed.

There were no external injuries or any other signs of assault, officials said. “She seems to have died in sleep. We don’t know if she had consumed or injected herself with anything poisonous,” police said, adding that they were treating it as a suspicious death.

Hailing from Vellore, Prathiba had been staying with her family in Perambur. But after COVID outbreak, she was given a room in the women’s hostel in KMC.

After preliminary inquiry, the police said that she was normal till she went to sleep on Thursday night. She had messaged her family and friends and there was nothing unusual. She was under stress because of the pandemic related work at hospital, officials said.

Based on information received at Kilpauk police station, senior police officers, including Joint Commissioner, Chennai East, inspected the room. Further investigations are on.