Harassment led to IAS aspirant Gayathri’s suicide, say police

Parents seek CBI investigation

Police investigating the death of an IAS aspirant in Anna Nagar suspect that she ended her life following harassment by one of her relatives.

Gayathri, an engineering graduate from Mettur, was preparing for UPSC examinations at a private academy in Anna Nagar here. She died at a private hospital in J.J.Nagar on May 20, and her body was taken to Mettur the same day.

Alleging foul play in her death, her parents and relatives staged a protest demanding a CBI probe, besides refusing to accept her body.

Following a complaint from her family members, the Karumalaikoodal police station registered a case, and the investigation was taken up by Deputy Commissioner of Police, Anna Nagar, K. Feroz Khan Abdullah.

According to police sources, the woman was staying in the house of a relative in the same area. Unable to withstand advances of a male in the family, she shifted to Lotus Ladies’ hostel at TVS Colony. Whenever the male relative visited the hostel, she avoided meeting him. As he continued to harass her, she decided to end her life, police said.

Police not informed

After consuming poison, she had gone to meet her hostel friends. She was immediately rushed to a private hospital on May 18. On the morning of May 20, she was declared dead.

Her body was taken to Salem. Neither her family members nor the hospital informed the J.J.Nagar Police Station about her death.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police conducted a preliminary inquiry with her hostel mates, administrators of the hostel, the chief doctor of the private hospital and the administrators of the institution where she studied.

“Only after the post-mortem would we be able to establish if she was subjected to sexual abuse,” a police officer said.