KOCHI:Demanding a CBI probe into the death of the 23-year-old postgraduate student who was found dead at Kalamassery last month, her mother on Tuesday insisted that she could not have committed suicide.
“Anooja was a smart girl, and wanted to become an IAS officer,” said 44-year-old Shailaja in her first-ever interaction with the media. She had often told that one had only one life, so one should live it to the full. ‘Suicide is for cowards,’ she would say. Then, how can I believe that a girl like her hanged herself?” asked Sahilaja.
She said she and her husband, along with some action council activists, would soon visit the Home Minister to press for their demand.
“Ever since Anooja died, the police have been trying to establish that it was a suicide. It is a lie. She was killed by her live-in partner Valiyakath Khalim, whose original name is Salim Ali,” said an emotional Shailaja, who deplored the way in which the police was handling the case. According to Shailaja, there was ample evidence at the apartment, where Anooja was found dead, to prove foul play. Members of the action council, which was formed to put pressure on the law enforcement agencies to find the truth without delay, alleged that Anooja was found hanging from the leaf of a fan in the rented apartment, and that her feet were almost touching the floor. “There were drag marks all over the floor, suggesting that Anooja was dragged by someone before being hung from the fan,” said BJP leader and action council chairman N Sajikumar.
The action council further alleged that the woman was a victim of what they termed as ‘Love Jihad.’ “This is a phenomenon that is prevalent across the country, wherein girls from various religions are tricked into having affair with Muslim youths who would later cajole or coerce them to get converted into Islam,” said the BJP leader.
“Anooja was also a victim of Love Jihad. She was killed when she refused to give into the demand of the her live-in partner to convert,” said Sajikumar, adding that her head was tonsured when she was found dead, and that there was hair all over the floor, beneath the body.
“A razor, which we believe was used for shaving her head, was also found in the apartment. As far as her mother knows, Anooja never told her anything about shaving the head,” said an action council member, who suspected that Anooja’s head was tonsured after she was ‘killed.’
According to the action council members, the head of ‘Love Jihad’ converts would be shaven, as a mark of entering a new life. Anooja was a final year MA Political Science student at Maharaja’s College. Her live-in partner, who was booked for abetting her suicide, is an accused in several murder case.
According to police, the 34-year-old man, who has wife and two children at Chavakkad, had been living with Anooja in the apartment where she was fond dead.
