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Tamil Nadu teen dies by suicide, hints at sexual harassment in note: Police
The 17-year-old was found dead at her home, and a handwritten note recovered from her read, “I should be the last girl to die of sexual harassment,” the police added.
A 17-year-old girl in Tamil Nadu allegedly died by suicide, leaving behind a note indicating she might have been sexually assaulted, the police said.
The 17-year-old was found dead at her home, and a handwritten note recovered from her read, “I should be the last girl to die of sexual harassment,” the police added.
“We have sent the note to a handwriting expert for verification,” said Karur’s superintendent of police P Sundaravadivel. A case of unnatural death has been filed under section 174 of the CrPC, but since the note has not named any perpetrator of sexual harassment, the police are further investigating to find out the perpetrator in the alleged sexual harassment case, an official said. Six teams of police have begun questioning the friends of the deceased, the two schools she studied in, her teachers, family. The police are also going through her social media accounts.
“Based on her YouTube searches, we have found suicidal tendencies,” said a police officer not wishing to be named. “In 2018, she lost her father. And recently her grandmother died, too. She has been living with her mother.”
Karur police said that in the course of their investigations if they find a perpetrator guilty of having sexually harassed the girl, they would alter the case and add sections of the POCSO Act.
When asked if this was a copycat suicide similar to the recent case in Coimbatore, the police denied it. This is the second such case in Tamil Nadu in November.
In the Coimbatore suicide case, the police arrested her school teacher on charges of sexually assaulting her between March and May earlier this year and for abetment to suicide. The school principal was also arrested under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 for failing to take action. Police are verifying a handwritten letter retrieved from her that names two people, which has not been revealed.
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