TRIPUNITHURA: The charred body of a girl student was found in the toilet of a hostel of the NSS Arts College for Women, Tripunithura, on Tuesday.
The victim is identified as G Vidya, 20, a final-year BCom student. According to the police, the incident occurred around 8.15 am. The police said that her brother had dropped her in front of the college gate early morning as classes for the commerce department commence early.
Around 8.30 am, some students noticed smoke coming out of the hostel toilet. They informed the college principal and the college authorities reported it to the police.
According to the Tripunithura Hill Palace Police, they were informed about the incident around 9 am. Deputy Commissioner of Police Nishanthini, Thrikkakara Assistant Commissioner Xavier Sebastain, Hill Palace Circle Inspector C K Uthaman, sub-inspector P R Santhosh and CPOs reached the spot immediately.
They found the victim’s lunch box, books and bag which were lying burnt outside the toilet and found the charred body of the girl inside. Police examined the spot for the next four hours. Police said, in prima facie, it is a case of suicide. The officials told mediapersons that the girl may have set ablaze after pouring kerosene on her body. The postmortem examination was conducted at the Alappuzha Medical College Hospital around 7 pm on Tuesday. After examining the postmortem result, Hill Palace Circle Inspector C K Uthaman confirmed the case as a suicide. “The girl had been living separated from her parents from childhood. Also, she suffered a major setback in her relationship. These factors might have prompted her to take such a decision,” he said.
Police said that the girl brought kerosene from home. “We had found a half-litre bottle from the toilet premises. It smelt of kerosene. We suspect that the girl brought kerosene in the bottle in which she usually carried drinking water,” police said.
Forensic and fingerprint experts reached the spot and chances of murder are also being examined.
Suicide Suspected
Meanwhile, the victim’s relatives told the police that the girl had an affair with a boy in the neighbourhood. Police said that the girl’s family was upset with the relationship and asked her to discontinue it.
The girl’s parents are settled in Madurai. She had been living with her grandmother in Fort Kochi. After the death of her grandmother, she shifted to her aunt’s residence at Maradu, where she had been living for the past three years.