“Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mr Shah have assured the MPs that the CBI will investigate the suicide case.”Abdul Latheef
Abdul Latheef, father of IIT Madras’ student Fathima Latheef who killed herself in her hostel, met with Home Minister Amit Shah along with a delegation of MPs from Kerala, where, he says, he was assured of a CBI probe into his daughter's death by Amit Shah.
On 9 November, his 19-year-old daughter Fathima, a first-year student of MA in Development Studies at IIT Madras, was found having hanged herself from the ceiling fan in her hostel room.
Just three days after her death, Fathima’s father alleged the cause of her death to be harassment at the hands of the department’s professors – sparking protests across the country, with students demanding the police take quick action.
Suicide Notes Authenticated as Real
The Forensic Department confirmed the authenticity of the suicide note and other notes typed by Fathima on Tuesday. It was confirmed that Fathima had written the notes before she killed herself and that they were not edited by anybody else.
The case is currently being investigated by Central Crime Branch, headed by C Easwaramoorthy, Additional Commissioner of Police. Sources said that a few classmates have also been named in the notes on her phone.
“The light of our life has been extinguished. Our lives have been plunged into darkness. I am not going to let go of this easily. I will take this up to the Supreme Court.”Abdul Latheef, Fathima’s Father
“My daughter is a star student, a rank-holder who went to Chennai to study. And I want to find out how this happened and every single person responsible should be punished,” he added.
Latheef said he will move the Madras High Court for swift action. He had earlier said that he will also demand an internal probe by the institute.
Meanwhile, on 18 November, students of IIT Madras sat on a hunger strike demanding the management constitute an expert panel to survey the overall mental well-being of the students. They also demanded a Grievance Redressal Cell be set up for each department and an internal probe into the allegations made by Fathima’s family be conducted.
The management accepted the students first two demands and the strike was called off. However, when the students met the director three days later, he told them that since an investigation was already underway, the institute will not be able to form an internal probe committee. The students have now planned on forming a joint action committee to demand justice for their classmate.
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