On July 19, Tuesday, Kaniyamoor Sakthi matriculation school secretary Shanthi, principal Shiva Sankaran, school correspondent Ravikumar, and two teachers were arrested in connection with the death of a 17-year-old school girl in Kallakurichi, Tamil Nadu. The five arrested school employees have been sent on a 15-day remand.
The class 12 student reportedly died of suicide on July 12 on the school premises. A suicide note recovered alleged that two teachers of the school had harassed and tortured her, compelling her to commit suicide. The family had also alleged that the management had something to do with her suicide. Hordes of protestors had also taken to the streets alleging foul play in the investigation into the case.
The case has now been transferred to Crime Branch-CID, a special wing in a CID headed by the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) and assisted by the Inspector General of Police (IGP).
#UPDATE | School Secretary, Principal, school correspondent & 2 teachers sent to 15 day-remand in connection with the death of a 17-year-old school girl in Kallakurichi, Tamil Nadu https://t.co/f15CxV0ndI
— ANI (@ANI) July 19, 2022
Family seeks re-postmortem on the girl’s body, SC agrees to hear the girl’s family’s plea
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court Tuesday, agreed to hear tomorrow (July 20, Wednesday) the plea of the parents of the deceased girl seeking an urgent hearing of the petition filed by them that has sought the inclusion of a medical expert of their choice in the team which will conduct a re-postmortem on the girl’s body.
The 2nd postmortem of the girl was ordered by the Madras High Court on Monday. Notably, the father of the deceased father of a Class 12 student in Kallakurichi whose death has sparked protests across Chinnasalem in Tamil Nadu, had moved the Madras High Court seeking a second postmortem examination and transfer of probe to the CBCID.
Reportedly, the first post-mortem report, which was conducted on July 14, revealed that the girl sustained injuries before her death. Following this, the class 12 student’s father filed a writ petition before the court seeking a second autopsy as he suspect it to be a murder.
The petition filed by Ramalingam, the deceased’s 47-year-old beleaguered father, stated that it was necessary to conduct a second postmortem examination to “unearth the truth behind the suspicious death”.
He claimed in the petition that she was forcibly admitted to the hostel by the school official. Additionally, he alleged that there was evidence of a struggle between her and another person and that there was no blood at the spot of her alleged fall. According to the petition, she had wounds all over her body and there were blood stains on the school wall.
Mother of the deceased class 12 student of Tamil Nadu school alleges foul play, says daughter’s body had injury marks
In an interview, the mother of the deceased class 12th student in Kallakurichi confirmed that the school administration initially informed her that her daughter was hurt but then suddenly notified her that she had died. Alleging foul play, the mother added, “when I looked at her body in mortuary it was largely swollen. There were injury marks all over the body. “
“When I went to the school and looked at the spot where she is said to have fallen. There was not even a single drop of blood. School management refused to provide us with answers,” she said.
The victim’s mother added, “It’s been 6 days since the incident happened. We still do not know the reason for our daughter’s death. No one is providing us with the answers we seek.”She went on to say, “We doubt that the school management has something to do with her suicide.”
“She never complained of any health issues. There was no issue between her and the school management too. All of a sudden we are hearing that she committed suicide. How did that happen? We want justice. We want the real culprits to be brought before the law. No other child should go through this,” the mother lamented.
Notably, the incident comes on the heels of the suicide case of M Lavanya, a student of standard 12th in Sacred Heart Higher Secondary School, Thirukattupali in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. Lavanya had committed suicide reportedly because of forced conversion attempts by a missionary school. The case has created quite a stir in the state.
School buses gutted in fire, police vans vandalised: protestors in Tamil Nadu outrage over girl’s suicide
Since the incident has been reported, angry villagers have been protesting against the school administration, demanding justice for the student. On July 17, Sunday, the protest took a violent turn as hundreds including relatives, former students of the school and the general public joined in. The irate villagers clashed with the police and pelted stones at them. The police vehicles were attacked with sticks. Additionally, some school buses were set on fire.
In the videos and visuals that had emerged from the protest site, angry protestors were seen breaking through police barricades, leading to physical altercations with the police.
#Kallakurichi Protest over the suicide of a 12th class schoolgirl in #TamilNadu‘s #Kallakurichi district.#Srimathi #JusticeForDefenceStudents #justiceforsrimathi #ஶ்ரீமதிக்கு_நீதி_வேண்டும் pic.twitter.com/6sqje59aIe
— Ajith (@Ajith114114) July 17, 2022
Protest..🤬✊🏻 Justiceforsrimathi..❗#justiceforsrimathi #Kallakurichi pic.twitter.com/7BfGIzlz5F
— 𝖒𝖗.𝖇𝖑𝖆𝖈𝖐3 (@vijayfc007) July 17, 2022
Tamil Nadu school girl dies by suicide
The 17-year-old girl, studying in Class 12 in Kaniyamoor Sakthi matriculation school in Kallakurichi of Salem district in Tamil Nadu died by suicide on July 12. As per reports, the girl’s body was found on July 13, a day after her death by a watchman at the building and she was rushed to a nearby government hospital, where she was declared dead. She died by suicide after alleged torture and harassment by teachers. The cause of death as mentioned in the first autopsy was multiple injuries and haemorrhages. According to reports, a note found in her room alleged that two teachers at the school harassed and tortured her, leading to her suicide. The girl’s family alleged that her death was not by suicide and had blamed the school administration for the untimely demise of their daughter.
