Suicide Note Recovered from IIT-Madras Student's Mobile Phone Authentic, Say Police
IIT-Madras student Fathima had committed suicide last month allegedly after harassment by faculty members.
Poornima Murali | CNN-News18Updated:December 4, 2019, 10:35 AM IST
Chennai: Over 20 days since Fathima Lateef, an IIT-Madras student, committed suicide inside her hostel room, police sources said that the alleged suicide note recovered from her mobile phone is authentic. In the note, Fathima had blamed a faculty member for compelling her to take the extreme step.
The note, dated November 8, was discovered by Fathima’s sister Aysha when she had switched it on a day after her death. She then went to the police station and the phone was then sent to cybercrime department to examine the credibility of the note. Aysha had told the police that the note was her mobile phone’s screensaver.
She had told the police that the phone was untouched till she approached the police station a day after her death.
Fathima’s family had submitted her laptop to the Central Crime Branch on November 27 and has been sent for forensic examination.
Meanwhile, the three professors of IIT-Madras were questioned by the Central Crime Branch for three days inside the campus after the case was transferred to the special team.
Fathima, a humanities student, killed herself on November 9 at the Sarayu hostel inside IIT-Madras campus. The case came to limelight after her parents sought a thorough investigation and blamed faculty members at the campus for her death.
The suicide sparked an intense debate over whether IIT-Madras needs to take more measures to ensure students are not subjected to performance pressures, or those of other kinds.
Two petitions have been filed so far before the Madras High Court demanding a CBI probe in Fathima's death and the number of suicides across IITs. The Madras High Court while hearing one of the petitions today observed that a probe is still underway and has reserved its order.
The note, dated November 8, was discovered by Fathima’s sister Aysha when she had switched it on a day after her death. She then went to the police station and the phone was then sent to cybercrime department to examine the credibility of the note. Aysha had told the police that the note was her mobile phone’s screensaver.
She had told the police that the phone was untouched till she approached the police station a day after her death.
Fathima’s family had submitted her laptop to the Central Crime Branch on November 27 and has been sent for forensic examination.
Meanwhile, the three professors of IIT-Madras were questioned by the Central Crime Branch for three days inside the campus after the case was transferred to the special team.
Fathima, a humanities student, killed herself on November 9 at the Sarayu hostel inside IIT-Madras campus. The case came to limelight after her parents sought a thorough investigation and blamed faculty members at the campus for her death.
The suicide sparked an intense debate over whether IIT-Madras needs to take more measures to ensure students are not subjected to performance pressures, or those of other kinds.
Two petitions have been filed so far before the Madras High Court demanding a CBI probe in Fathima's death and the number of suicides across IITs. The Madras High Court while hearing one of the petitions today observed that a probe is still underway and has reserved its order.
