GUWAHATI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will probe the death of a Class VII Manipur girl in her school hostel under mysterious circumstances.
After Chief Minister N Biren Singh issued a statement saying that the case would be handed over to the CBI, the protests in Imphal have calmed down.
The 14-year-old girl, Ningthoujam Babysana Chanu, was found hanging in the hostel of her Standard Robarth Higher Secondary School in Manipur capital Imphal’s Canchipur on July 18. The death under mysterious circumstances made her family to sniff foul play.
Two wardens of the school hostel, who surrendered before the police, were sent to 15 days’ judicial custody by an Imphal court.
The locals could not take the girl’s death easily as was evident from their forming a Joint Action Committee (JAC) to fight for justice and staging a series of protests over the past few days. Normal life in Imphal had come to a standstill two days ago when the JAC called a 24-hour bandh.
At a joint meeting, All Manipur Students’ Union, women organisations and parents and guardians of boarders of the school hostel adopted several resolutions.
They demanded that rules and regulations framed by the school authorities for hostellers and facilities pertaining to security, healthcare and food given to hostellers be made public. They also resolved to urge the state government to implement Manipur Private School (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2017. Another significant resolution was on keeping the students away from the school hostel till the perpetrators of the crime are booked. The protestors also resolved to take away the belongings of the hostellers on Saturday.
The police said their investigation into the case was on.