Days after Fathima Latheef was found dead inside her hostel room in Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M), her family was in Chennai on Wednesday and met senior police officers.
Speaking to TNM, Fathima’s family friend Shameer said they had also met the commissioner of police, who has assured a fair probe into the issue. “At every level, the ministers know the seriousness of the issue and hence we feel they are attentive to our problems,” he said. They will also be meeting with the Chief Minister tomorrow.
As on Wednesday, the family has handed over Fathima’s laptop to the investigating authorities for forensic examination. “We have handed over her laptop and password to the police. We are now awaiting forensic examination results. It will take time,” he added. He also said that the police have met and questioned all the professors named by Fathima Latheef in her notes.
Fathima Latheef, a 19-year-old humanities student in IIT-M killed herself in the IIT-M campus on November 9. Her suicide prompted widespread outrage across the country as she had allegedly named a few professors in her notes, typed in her mobile phone. The government of Tamil Nadu, following protests, handed over the case to the Central Crime Branch led by former CBI officer C Eswaramoorthy, who is also the Additional Commissioner of Central Crime Branch.
Members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu and Kerala had also raised the issue of suicides in institutions like the IITs and IIMs across the country and had sought probe into the deaths, apart from seeking justice for Fathima Latheef’s death.
Meanwhile, the students of IIT-M have formed a Joint Action Committee (JAC) seeking justice for Fathima Latheef’s death. Formed after a meeting with the Director of the Institute on November 21, the JAC’s major goal would be to ensure that structural issues faced by the students within the campus are rightfully addressed. The committee will soon be releasing its agenda.