IIT Madras suicide case: Two students sit on hunger strike demanding fair probe

Over a week since the death of a 19-year-old student of Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, two students of the Institute on Monday sat on a hunger strike demanding a fair investigation in the case. Fathima Latheef had allegedly committed suicide on November 8 and the case is now being. The Students Federation of India (SFI) had previously staged a protest outside the Institute campus demanding a fair investigation. The college administration had also expressed its deep grief and sadness over the incident and has committed to coordinate with the police investigation.

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"We are on a hunger strike. We have two demands – first is that an internal investigation committee should be set up to look into allegations raised by Fathima and her family, and the second is to appoint an external committee of experts who deal with mental health. These experts can help the students suffering from various kinds of mental pressures," said one of the students. He claimed that so far the administration has not taken any action in this regard which has forced the students to stage such protests in the campus.

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Suicide case

Fathima Latheef, an 18-year-old girl from Kerala pursuing her first-year undergraduate course in the humanities stream at IIT Madras committed suicide by hanging from a ceiling fan in her Sarayu hostel room, police said on November 9. The student, who was last seen on the night of November 8 by other hostel inmates, did not answer calls from her mother in the morning, a police official said. "The girl's mother later called one of the hostel inmates and requested to look for her daughter," said an official adding that the student, along with others, went to check her room and found her hanging from the ceiling fan. The inmates broke open the door and informed the police, who moved the body to the Government Royapettah Hospital. The student's family in Kollam was also informed.

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Chennai Police formed special Central Crime Bureau team

The Chennai Police have formed a special Central Crime Bureau team to probe the matter under ADC Meglina, an investigation officer. The team has been questioning a professor by the name Sudharsan Padmanabhan, other faculties and students inside the IIT Madras campus. They were asked to not move out without the permission of the police, but no arrests have been made in the case as of now, as the questioning is still on.

(With ANI inputs)

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