KOZHIKODE: The rebellious spirit of having been an SFI activist during her college days made Mahija, mother of Jishnu Pranoy who allegedly committed suicide at Nehru Engineering College Pampadi, to come out against chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, proclaiming that his silence on the death of her son and the demand for a fair probe had aggrieved her family.
In an open letter to the Chief Minister, Mahija a native of Nadapuram in Kozhikkode said her son had admired Pinarayi Vijayan the most along with Che Guevara and she was pained at the insensitive attitude of the chief minister, who never bothered to offer solace to the family at the loss of their dear son. The death of the 18-year-old had triggered a movement against the self-financing colleges in the state. Jishnu, a first-semester student of the college, was found hanging in the bathroom of its hostel on January 6.
"The chief minister did not come to my house when he visited Kozhikode and Kannur. Despite nearly 18 MLAs, Opposition leader and CPM state secretary having paid a visit in solidarity with our fight, the CM failed to extend any support to us. The chief minister even did not bother to call us on phone. He could have conveyed his condolence on his Facebook page in which he otherwise expresses his opinion on various issues," the letter said.
Mahija added that despite sending him three letters apprising him on the issue, there was no reply from the CM. "There were serious lapses on the part of the police investigation in the case. There have been discrepancies in the post-mortem report. Though many students have come forward raising complaints against the brutal attitude of the self-financing private college managements, the chief minister has failed to heed to it," she added.
However, the state government had announced to give a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to Jishnu's family on January 11.