The funeral of the Class 12 student who died at Kaniyamoor Sakthi Matriculation School in Kallakurichi district of Tamil Nadu, was held on Saturday, July 23. The deceased student’s body was handed over to her parents on Saturday morning from the Kallakurichi Government Medical College and Hospital so that her last rites could be performed. The Madras High Court on Friday ordered the girl’s parents to collect her body and perform her final rites before 6 pm on July 23. The deceased girl’s body was taken in an ambulance to Vepur with police escort.
The student’s funeral was conducted in her hometown Vepur in Cuddalore district. Massive police force was deployed at Kallakurichi, Chinna Salem and Vepur to ensure that there was no violence. The police had also issued instructions prohibiting outsiders from participating in the funeral fearing law and order issues. Permission to conduct a funeral procession was also denied for the same reasons.
The family of the student, who died by suicide on July 12, alleged foul play in their daughter’s death, and their request for a doctor of their choice to be in the team conducting the second postmortem was turned down by the Supreme Court. The student’s father alleged that the second post-mortem report was tampered with and that he was not allowed to attend the procedure. Police submitted to the court that the post-mortem procedure was recorded on camera, and that the second autopsy did not reveal anything new. The court reprimanded the girl’s father for trying to delay the case, and ordered her family to accept their daughter’s body.
The student was found dead in her hostel at the Kanimayoor Sakthi Matriculation school in Kallakurichi. While the school claimed that this was a suicide, her parents alleged foul play in her death and began protesting outside the school. However, on July 17, the situation worsened and violence ensued with several vehicles and buildings burnt. Nearly 300 people have been arrested and produced in court in relation to this case out of whom, 20 are juveniles.
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