The death of a 19-year-old girl hailing from Sivagiri in Erode district, who was studying in an engineering college at Coimbatore, sparked protests by students of the college and the Kongunadu Munnetra Kazhagam on Tuesday.
Her charred body was found in Sivagiri on Monday. The girl’s parents claimed they had seen her leave by a bus for Coimbatore on Sunday. The Erode police said that a special team had been formed to probe the case and inquiry was on to find out how the body was found in Sivagiri when the parents claimed they had seen her leave for Coimbatore.
Shops remained closed in Sivagiri town and neighbouring villages and the public, including relatives of the girl, took out a procession demanding action against those responsible for her death.
In Coimbatore city, hundreds of students from her college lined up at the CMCH on Tuesday. Some of them broke down on seeing the body, which was sent to the CMCH from Sivagiri when the police found out from her identity card that she was a student of the Coimbatore college. Subsequent inquiry helped them to trace her parents.
Tempers ran high at the hospital in the morning with the students demanding speedy and fair investigation to bring the culprits to book.
Activists of the Kongu Nadu Munnetra Kazhagam (KNMK) staged a demonstration demanding the arrest of those responsible for the murder. They later squatted on the road in front of the CMCH, holding up traffic. The anguished students met District Revenue Officer K. Karpagam and sought a speedy probe. They also staged dharna “before the Collectorate.
City Police Commissioner A.K. Viswanathan, who came to the Collectorate to speak to the agitated students, assured them of a speedy and fair investigation. The students then dispersed.
The police in Erode said that it would take a few more days to get a detailed post-mortem report as a few more tests have to be done. A senior officer said that they had scanned the contacts registered on the mobile phone of the girl and initiated an inquiry. “We have already received the call log from the mobile service provider. We are inquiring with those who spoke to her on Sunday.”
