KOLLAM: Two teenage girls were found hanging at a state-run aftercare home at Injavila in Anchalummoodu here on Thursday. The police concluded that the girls aged 16, and 15, hailing from Karunagappally and Kilikolloor, respectively, committed suicide. Their bodies were found hanging from the iron railings of the staircase leading to the first floor of its multi-storied building. The body was first noticed by its inmates in the wee hours. Police recovered a suicide note from their rooms. Both were victims of sexual assault by close relatives.
Fingerprint experts and a forensic team have collected evidence from the spot. Police completed inquest in the presence of RDO. The 16-year-old girl, a Plus Two student, was admitted here in January while the younger one, a Class X student, reached there a month back. According to the inmates, the former was under mental stress after she failed in a couple of exams. The suicide note of the younger girl suggested that she was under grief of parting with her mother. She was very much attached to her mother and was depressed.
“The autopsy has been completed, and the results are awaited. A special investigation team headed by Chathannoor ACP will investigate further. The team is collecting statements from inmates,” city police commissioner Ajeetha Beegum told DC. Both were victims of crimes under POCSO Act, and hence the Child Welfare Committee had ordered their rehabilitation here. The superintendent could also not violate the order to allow her to go home, the commissioner added.
The aftercare home that accommodates over 80 children also lacks systematic counselling facility. Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights registered a suo-motu case and asked the authorities to submit a report within ten days. Health minister K.K. Shailaja met the relatives of the girls in the presence of M. Mukesh MLA. Meanwhile, KSU called an education strike in the district on Friday demanding a crime branch inquiry into the death of the girls.
