Abdul Latheef, the father of Fathima Latheef, the IIT-Madras first-year student who committed suicide her hostel room at IIT-Madras on November 9, has alleged that IIT-Madras did not get in touch with the family after his daughter’s death, reports The News Minute.
“IIT did not once get in touch with me following my daughter’s death. There was absolutely no response from the institute, even when we went to collect my daughter’s body,” said Abdul Latheef.
Addressing the media after meeting Tamil Nadu DGP, Fathima’s father Abdul Lateef said that notes taken from his daughter’s mobile phone had named one of her professors as the cause of her death. In fact, Fathima had also named two other professors for driving her to take her own life. He had earlier alleged that she was being discriminated against because of her religion by professor Milind Brahme, who was part of the controversial Ambedkar Periyar Study circle.
“She had mentioned that he was a bad man. She was scared to attend his classes. She did not even go to collect her mark sheet from him. Instead, her friend went and got it for her,” Abdul added.
Abdul blamed Sudarshan Padmanabhan for his daughter’s death and stated that he believed the said professor was prejudiced against Fathima as she had consistently topped all her subjects. He claims to have seen e-mails where the professor (Sudarshan Padmanabhan) had asked her to meet him in order to get the additional 5 marks in his paper where she had scored 13 out of 18 marks. Fathima’s relative claimed that her answer to the 5-mark question was also correct.
Criticising IIT-Madras management, Abdul Lateef said that the principal of the institution had failed to hand over CCTV footage on the day of Fathima’s death, despite agreeing to do so.
On Friday, Abdul had visited Chennai along with other relatives to meet the state DGP seeking an investigation into his daughter’s death. While he expressed confidence in the state police to carry out fair investigation, he condemned IIT-Madras for allegedly washing their hands off the whole incident. He added that Fathima had spoken up earlier about harassment from the professor she had accused in her notes.
Abdul Lateef also met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and called for a proper investigation into the matter.
Meanwhile, the death of IIT-Madras student Fathima Lateef has now taken a political turn as Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president MK Stalin on Friday claimed that death of Fathima Lateef was not a suicide as there are many questions around her death.
“The death of IIT Madras student Fathima is not suicide. After interacting with Fathima’s father it is clear that there are many mysteries and questions around her death,” MK Stalin tweeted in Tamil.
சென்னை ஐஐடி மாணவி பாத்திமா மரணம் தற்கொலை அல்ல; அதில் பல மர்மங்கள் அடங்கி இருப்பதை அவரது பெற்றோர் எழுப்பும் கேள்விகள் உணர்த்துகிறது! அவர்களின் கண்ணீருக்கு நீதி கிடைக்க வேண்டும்!
குற்றவாளிகளை உடனடியாகக் கைது செய்வதன் மூலமாக நியாயத்தின் பக்கம் நிற்பதை தமிழக அரசு நிரூபிக்க வேண்டும். pic.twitter.com/Fc39OUy2Mr
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) November 15, 2019
Stalin urged the state government to arrest the culprits in the case and ensure that justice is given to the victim.
The Case:
19-year-old Fathima, a humanities student from IIT Madras, committed suicide last week, who reportedly had left a note on her phone accusing her faculties, one of whom is an advisor to the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle, of harassing her because she was a Muslim.
Fathima, who hailed from Kerala, was pursuing her first-year undergraduate course in the humanities. She was found dead after committing suicide by hanging from a ceiling fan in her hostel room last week.
Fathima Lateef’s death has opened up another controversy after allegations propped up against faculties of the IIT-Madras of harassment, which according to her parents has supposedly led to her suicide. Fathima’s parents alleged that humiliation and caste discrimination by a faculty member had forced their daughter to take the extreme step.
A purported suicide note written by the deceased Fathima on her phone is doing rounds on social media, in which she has blamed three faculties of the IIT-Madras as the reason for ending her life. She had blamed Hemachandran Karah and Milind Brahme for her death.
In an earlier note, the student had also accused Sudarshan Padmanabhan, an associate professor at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at IIT Madras.
Professor Milind Brahme is the faculty advisor of the controversial Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle of the IIT Madras. Milind Brahme, who holds his PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi teaches Translation Studies or Comparative Studies at IIT Madras.
