A 16-year-old student, who consumed poison four days ago, succumbed at Bowring hospital on Monday. The family alleged that Hemalatha, a second-year PU student committed suicide after being reprimanded by college authorities.
Following a series of sexual assaults on schoolchildren in the State, the college management had laid down guidelines for students’ safety. The principal had allegedly reprimanded Hemalatha on a few occasions for speaking to a boy. According to her classmates, the principal even took up the matter with the victim’s mother and explained that Hemalatha’s conduct on the college premises and outside was a cause for concern.
On November 13, after college hours, Hemalatha spoke to her friends, including the boy, before returning home. On her way home, she allegedly bought a bottle of pesticide and drank it at home.
According to her parents, she came from her room holding her stomach and sobbing: “I am sorry mother.” It was then she revealed to her mother that she had consumed poison. She was immediately rushed to Bowring hospital where she was admitted to the intensive care unit.
At about 1 a.m. on Monday, Hemalatha passed away.
“We had gone to the college on November 14 to ask what had happened to my daughter, but they (management) did not allow us inside telling us that the principal was busy with Children’s Day. We went the next day too, but the principal was still not available,” the grieving parents said.
As the news of her death spread, a group of students, including her classmates, resorted to flash protests condemning the principal and the management. The police were summoned to take control of the tense situation.
A case of unnatural death has been registered by the Indiranagar police and investigations are under way. The body was handed over to the family after post-mortem.