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The body of Aswini, who was stabbed to death in broad daylight in Chennai on Friday by her stalker, Alagesan, has been handed over to her family after the post-mortem was completed.
"Aswini's body has been handed over to her parents after the post-mortem was completed. Death is due to the injury she suffered when her throat was cut. There was a lot of bleeding. She died due to haemorrhaging and the shock that followed," said P. Vasanthamani, Dean, Kilpauk Medical College.
The murder of the 18-year-old B.Com student sent shockwaves across the city.
Aswini had barely walked 100 metres from her college, Meenakshi Academy of Higher Education and Research in KK Nagar, on to the road that students take every day, when she was attacked by 26-year-old Alagesan.
As soon as he slit her throat, Alagesan tried to flee. But there were many people travelling on bikes, who saw the crime and immediately tackled him to the ground. He was handed over to the police as soon as they arrived.
Both Aswini and Alagesan were residents of Maduravoyal.
On February 16, Aswini had filed a complaint with the Maduravoyal police station, alleging that Alagesan was harassing her. TNM has seen the contents of the complaint made by Aswini. The complaint says, "He and I were in a relationship but after some time, I realised that he was not a good person. Therefore, I decided to leave this relationship, but he continued to harass me." The Maduravoyal police warned Alagesan but let him off.
Police sources said that Aswini’s family did not want to file an FIR because they did not want any hindrance to her education. “So, we counselled them and took written statements from both. We gave Aswini our number in case she faced trouble from Alagesan. But we didn’t receive a call from her after that,” a source said.
However, Aswini’s aunt Saraswathi told mediapersons that the family had asked the police to take strict action against Alagesan. But, he was never arrested and just sent back home. “He came with a lawyer when the police called him. They didn’t keep him in for even a day, and sent him back on the same day,” she alleged.
Aswini’s father, Mohan, was a construction worker and died when she was a small child. Her distraught mother, who supported the family by finding employment as a domestic worker, told mediapersons, "They should not leave Alagesan. I worked in other people's houses and scrubbed their vessels to be able to bring up my daughter. He should not be spared."
Aswini's death comes nearly two years after the horrific murder of techie Swathi, who was hacked to death in broad daylight at the Nungambakkam Railway Station by a stalker, Ramkumar. Swathi's death had troubled the conscience of the state and several people had questioned bystanders who did not intervene to even help her.