Chennai: Around 20 protesters belonging to ‘Campus Front of India’ staged a demonstration outside IIT-Madras over the suicide of a 19-year-old Kerala girl in the campus hostel.
According to the police, the protesters demanded a thorough probe and they also raised slogans against the premier engineering institute’s toxic environment for students, especially those belonging to minority religious groups and lower castes in India. Seeking justice, the protesters demanded that those responsible for her death be punished.
The protest came four days after the student committed suicide. The victim, identified as Fathima Latif, a student of MA humanities and development studies (integrated), and a native of Kollam in Kerala was found hanging from the ceiling in her room on November 9.
Her father Abdul Latif said her daughter had left a note on her cellphone in which she reportedly blamed one of her professors for her taking the extreme step. The Kotturpuram police investigating the case had initially said that no note was found. Their inquiries did reveal though that Fathima was depressed after scoring low marks in a semester exam.
The family is now demanding a CBI inquiry, claiming harassment was the cause. Abdul Latif said the police failed to conduct a fair probe. He submitted a petition to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan seeking the state government's intervention in the Tamil Nadu police investigation of the case.
“I have documents with me that contain details of harassment meted out to my daughter. Three professors are responsible for this. I want a CBI inquiry,” he said. “There has been no response from the police, they have not helped us.”
Police said they have intensified the probe and are conducting enquiries with 11 persons including four IIT-M professors, hostel wardens and Fathima’s friends. Abdul Latif who will arrive in Chennai on Thursday is expected to file a complaint with DGP J.K Tripathy.
