PATHANAMTHITTA : Three classmates of deceased nursing student Ammu Sajeev, who were arrested by the Pathanamthitta police under charges of abetment of suicide, were produced before a court and remanded.
Ammu, 22, a resident of Ayrooppara in Thiruvananthapuram, was a student at the Government Nursing College, Chuttippara here. She fell off the college hostel building on November 15. Ammu, who sustained critical injuries from the fall, was rushed to Pathanamthitta General Hospital by her teachers and classmates. After informing her family, she was transferred to Thiruvananthapuram Medical College in an ICU ambulance, where she succumbed to injuries.
Following the incident, the Pathanamthitta police had registered a case and started an investigation. A team of scientific investigation team, fingerprint experts and police photographers conducted a detailed examination of the spot and collected evidence.
The hard disk of the hostel’s CCTV was seized for scientific examination, police said. They also recovered a notebook and mobile phone from Ammu’s room.
According to police, they got proof that Ammu was mentally and physically harassed by her classmates. The cops found that the harassment and other bad experiences were detailed in her book. They also found the complaint sent by Ammu’s father to the college principal against the accused classmates and the records of the action taken by the college authorities.
The police had collected the memo received by the accused, their replies, and the statement signed by Ammu to the college authorities. In it, Ammu mentioned the mental torture and attempts to physically assault her, police said.
Arrest after interrogation
The trio was taken into custody after it was found that the mental torture perpetrated by them led to Ammu’s death.
On Thursday, Ammu’s brother had given statement against the accused persons. Speaking to reporters after giving his statement, Akhil alleged foul play behind his sister’s death. He vehemently rejected the possibility of suicide, accusing both the college authorities and three of Ammu’s classmates of being involved in the incident.
Terming it a murder, Akhil stated that the family would file a formal complaint with Health Minister Veena George. He also expressed satisfaction with the progress of the police investigation.
The arrested classmates-- Aleena Dileep, 22, of Pathanapuram, Kollam, A T Ashita, 22, of Vazhappalli, Kottayam and Anjana Madhu, 22, of Ayarkunnam, Kottayam, were taken into custody on Thursday night.
They confessed to the crime during detailed interrogation. Evidence has been found that there was mental torture that led to suicide, police said.
They will be remanded to Kottarakkara Sub Jail till December 5.