CHENNAI: On a day when the chairperson of the SVS Naturopathy and Yoga Sciences College in Villupuram district surrendered over the alleged suicide of three girls, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Monday said she has directed the police to probe the death of the students and take appropriate action. She also granted financial assistance of `1 lakh each to the families of the deceased — V Priyanka (Tiruvarur), E Saranya (Cheyyur) and T Monisha (Ernavur).
Vasuki Subramanian, chairperson of the SVS Naturopathy and Yoga Sciences College, appeared before a judicial magistrate at Tambaram in the afternoon and offered to surrender and cooperate with any enquiry related to the case.
Meanwhile, the Madras High Court ordered preservation of the body of one of the victims on a petition by her father. M K Tamilarasan, father of Monisha (21), submitted in his petition that there are strong reasons to suspect his daughter was murdered. He pleaded the court to order a probe by the CB-CID, a compensation of `25 lakh and a fresh autopsy by doctors of any government hospital in Chennai.
Justice M M Sundresh, before whom the writ petition came up for hearing, directed the authorities to preserve Monisha’s body until Wednesday.
Earlier, additional advocate-general Arvind Pandian told the judge that post-mortem on the bodies of the students had been conducted at the Villupuram Government Hospital.
The parents of the other two girls - Saranya and Priyanka - had received the bodies and taken them to their hometowns on Sunday. Only the petitioner has refused to accept the body of his daughter.
Counsel appearing on behalf of the government said the petitioner has been making baseless allegations and argued that since the petition contained multiple prayers, the bench does not have the jurisdiction to pass orders on the prayers.
The bench adjourned the case to Wednesday and directed the government counsel to file counter arguments on that day. The judge also directed the court registry to post the case before the bench having appropriate jurisdiction relating to the petition. Till then the body should be preserved, the bench ordered. The petitioner had contended that the college management demanded `2 lakh each from the three girls on January 22 last. As the girls resisted the demand, college chairperson Vasuki, her husband Subramanian, their son, the hostel warden and others inflicted injuries on the bodies of the trio and after murdering them, threw the bodies into a nearby well. Their hands were tied with ropes. The petitioner lodged a complaint with the local police, but there was no action.