Kollam: Family for probe into IIT suicide

Kollam: The family of the Kollamite who committed suicide at IIT Madras met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday seeking a fair probe into her death for which the latter assured an intervention at the state level.

Fathima Latheef, 19, was found hanging from the ceiling of her hostel room on IIT Madras campus on Saturday.

Her father alleged that cops at the Kotturpuram police station there was trying to sabotage the case by not even starting a preliminary probe.

“The IIT authorities have claimed my daughter took the step because of her poor performance in academics, which is not true. She secured the first rank in All India IIT entrance test and continued to be a topper in her class,” her father Abdul Latheef of Ran-damkutty in Kilikolloor said.

She was an integrated MSc student at the humanities and social science department.

The family also alleged that the police refused to admit that they received a suicide note on her phone which the family members who reached the police station tactically verified.

In the note, she had mentioned the name of a professor with her department who was responsible for her death.  Her father also accused the police of trying to play down the information and hinted at communal discrimination on the campus.

Fathima had visited her home in Kollam on October 1 and returned on October 8.

 She and her mother had their last conversation over the phone on the night of October 8 after she reached the hostel. Next day onwards her phone was off and later a hostel warden informed the family that the girl was no more.