Chennai, July 23: In line with the Madras High Court order, the parents of 12th standard girl student, who had jumped to death at a private residential school leading to largescale violence in Kallakurichi taluk on Sunday last, received her body and it was laid to rest amid tight security, today.
Tens and hundreds of people bid a tearful adieu as the body of Srimathi was laid to rest at her native Periyanesalur village in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu.
Earlier, the girl’s parents received the body at the Kallakurichi Government Hospital at 07:00 hrs this morning as per the court order and brought to her residence in Cuddalore district where a large number of people, including State Ministers, district officials and representatives of various political parties paid their last respects.
Later, her body was taken in a procession and laid to rest in a crematorium. The girl’s mysterious death triggered protests with a large number of people staging road blockade on the Salem-Chennai highway demanding justice to her and action against the school management.
The four-day long protest turned violent on Sunday last when the agitators, breached the police barricades, pelted stones at the police, stormed the private residential school campus and indulged in arson and rioting, after
police resorted to lathicharge to disperse them.
Police had also fired two rounds in the air but it did not have any desired
effect as the protestors, who assembled in large numbers through a
WhatsApp group demanding justice to her, outnumbered the police
personnel.
A number of school buses parked in the campus and some police vehicles
were set on fire and the office rooms in the school were vandalised and
window panes were damaged.
Tamil Nadu DGP C.Sylendra Babu, who visited the spot along with the
State Home Secretary, ordered a CB-CID probe into the girl’s death.
After Chief Minister M.K.Stalin reviewed the situation, the State government
transferred the Kallkurichi District Collector nd the Superintendent of Police
following the violence.
In the meantime, the parents refused to accept the body and moved the
Madras High Court demanding that a second post mortem should be
conducted.
The court allowed it and formed a four-member team of doctors, including
a forensic expert to do the second post mortem and that the entire process
should be videographed.
The Court, however, rejected yet another plea by the parents that a doctor
of their choice should be present during the second autopsy.
The parents then filed a petition in the Supreme Court pressing their demand
to which the Court sought to know whether they did not have faith in judiciary
and said they could approach the High Court on the issue.
Submitting the copies of the Apex Court order, the parents filed yet another
plea in the High Court yesterday seeking a third post mortem in the presence
of a doctor of their choice.
The Court, while rejecting the plea, held that the Supreme Court had not passed
any direction to bar the re-post mortem with the expert of doctors nominated by
the High Court.
The High Court constituted a team of experts from JIPMER Puducherry to review,
verify and study both the autopsy reports and directed the parents to collect the
body and posted the case to July 29.
The Court directed the experts team to analyse the videographs of the two post
mortems and the two post mortem certificates and give its final opinion to the
Villuppuram Chief Judicial Magistrate in a sealed cover within a month.
The court while allowing the villagers, locals and family members to pay their
homage to the body of the girl, said no outsiders should be allowed and that
the last rites should be held in a peaceful manner.
Following this the parents agreed to receive the body and it was handed over
to the family today morning. From Kallakurichi government hospital, the body
was brought to the girl’s native village, where after public homage was laid to
rest amid tight security, ending the ten day long impasse ever since the girl
jumped to death from the third floor of her hostel on July 13.
