The 13-year-old girl in the southern Indian city of Secunderabad was unusually devout, her relatives said.
Even in her younger years, Aradhana Samdhariya was known to undertake strict fasts from time to time to embrace her Jain faith.
Fasting is not uncommon for Jains, a centuries-old religious sect in India that embraces non-violence as its chief tenet. Jains practice strict vegetarianism and barefoot, white-robed Jain monks carry a small brush to swipe in front of them as they walk - lest they inadvertently kill a small creature.
Even among the faithful, Aradhana's ritual was extreme, however. She died on October 3, not long after completing a 68-day religious fast allegedly supported by her parents, an affluent jeweller and his wife.
As she grew weaker, she was kept home from school, according to a report in the Indian Express newspaper. Her relatives dressed her in finery, praised her devotion and took selfies with her, reports said.