Fathima suicide: NSUI moves HC seeking CBI probe
CHENNAI: The students’ wing of the Congress party moved the Madras High Court seeking to transfer the probe into the suicide of IIT-Madras student Fathima Lathief, allegedly caused by the three faculty members, from the file of Kotturpuram police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The National Students Union of India (NSUI), represented by its president N Aswathaman, has submitted that from April 2018 to November 2019, as many as five students have committed at IIT-M. Fathima's father has given a statement that he suspects foul play as there was a suicide note on her mobile phone and that his daughter's room at the institute hostel was tampered.
Further, noting that IIT-M has not taken any effective steps in respect of the continuation of student suicides which was still a mystery, the plea pointed out that even assuming that the special team appointed by the State police were properly investigating, it would lack credibility as the issue has raised several doubts among the public.
Until an independent agency like CBI investigated the case, the truth would never come out, the plea said. The plea is expected to be taken up for hearing soon.
Meanwhile, cadre from the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) staged a protest in front Shastri Bhavan raising Fathima’s suicide and also the police crackdown on students of Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.