Sister found student hanged in bedroom

GEORGE TOWN: The Coroner’s Court here was told yesterday that the Form Two student M. Vasanthapiriya was found hanged from a shawl tied to the air-conditioning pipe in her bedroom.

M. Himapria, 18, said she had knocked on the locked door of her sister’s bedroom several times but there was no answer, which prompted her to use the spare key to unlock the door.

“Once unlocked, I still had to push the door open as there was a heavy chair behind it. When I managed to open it, I saw Vasanthapiriya hanging from a shawl (tied to an air-conditioning pipe),” she said.

Himapria is the fifth witness of the inquest into the death of Vasanthapiriya who was found hanged, believed due to humiliation after she was accused of stealing a teacher’s mobile phone.

The witness said she also found a note written by her sister saying “Nobody is responsible for my death, I don’t take the teacher’s phone”.

Earlier, Himapria said Teacher Raymala (the owner of the phone) and her husband had come to their house to ask about the missing phone, but her sister said that she did not take it.

“Those present at that time were Teacher Raymala and her husband, my father and Vasanthapiriya. They discussed the matter in the living room,” she said.

Meanwhile, the sixth witness, M. Meharaj,16, who is also Vasanthapiriya’s brother, told the court that his father said he would replace the teacher’s smart phone even if his sister had not taken it.

Hearing before coroner Norsalha Hamzah continues on July 4.

Vasanthapiriya died at the Seberang Jaya Hospital Intensive Care Unit at 3.35 am on Feb 1.

She was believed to have hanged herself in a suicide attempt at her home after she was accused of stealing the teacher’s mobile phone at the school. - Bernama