3 days on, cops still to get friends’ statement

Seventy-two hours after a 16year-old girl fell to death from her residence on the 23rd floor of her residence at Imperial Towers, Tardeo, the police are yet to record the statement of the minors who are alumnae of the Cathedral and John Connon school, Fort. According to police, the boys and girls had attended a party at a friend’s residence at Pedder Road on Friday night, along with the 16-yearold. Police have also yet not obtained the mobile phone of the girl, which continues to be with her parents.

After returning home late on October 26, the girl fell from the 23rd floor of her residence. The police claim they are still piecing together the sequence of events which led to her death. Furthermore, they have also denied the girl was in a relationship with a boy.

Sanjay Surve, senior police inspector, Tardeo police, said, “We are yet to record the statements of the minor boys and girls, who are ex-students of Cathedral and John Connon School. The teenagers had attended a reunion party at a friend's residence at Pedder Road."

Surve added, "Alcohol was not served at the party. We are yet to identify the minor boy seen in the CCTV footage, who had come to drop the 16year-old girl at Imperial Towers."

The police said the girl's residence has a CCTV camera to keep tabs on the movement of domestic staff. But the CCTV footage shows only the maid's movements in the living room.

According to the maid's statement, given to the police on Sunday, she opened the door to let the girl in and "the girl went straight to her room and did not seem drunk," added Surve.

A constable sent to the girl’s residence on Monday morning to investigate was asked to leave. The family asked if police could get back their daughter, said the officer.

Surve said, "The grieving parents do not wish to pursue the case. They are disturbed at the reports highlighting their daughter's character. They say, had they suspected any foul play in their daughter's death, they would have approached the police and filed a complaint." Her body was found by the building's security guard on the ninth-floor lawn and he had alerted the police. Her father was out of station on business when the tragedy occurred, around 2.30 am early on Saturday. On Friday, she left home at 7.30 pm for a party. When she returned home close to midnight, her mother and younger brother were believed to be asleep. The maid, who opened the door, was the last person to see her alive, the police said. Speaking to the Free Press Journal, Meera Isaacs, the principal of Cathedral and John School said, "The police have not come to the school to question anyone." Despite repeated calls and text messages, Nalini Pinto, the principal of Hill Spring International School, which the girl attended, refused to comment on the matter.