New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah Thursday assured the family of Fathima Latheef, a student of IIT-Madras who allegedly committed suicide last month, that a CBI investigation will be initiated into the case.
“We met the prime minister and home minister today and they assured us that a CBI inquiry will be initiated in a week. We had not asked for a CBI probe…we just told them that we were not happy with the way local police was investigating the case,” Fathima’s twin sister, Aisha, told ThePrint.
The body of Fathima, a first-year Master’s student at IIT-Madras, was found hanging from a ceiling fan in her hostel room on 9 November.
Fathima’s father, Abdul Latheef, and sister Aisha, along with 11 MPs from Tamil Nadu and Kerala, submitted a complaint to Modi and Shah saying they were not happy with the way the Chennai Police was handling the case.
The family had earlier alleged that Fathima was subjected to religious discrimination at the institute which had forced her to take the extreme step. Aisha also said that she had read some text messages on Fathima’s phone which hinted at discrimination faced by her sister.
“I saw a lot of notes on her phone which show that she was depressed for the last one-and-half months. We also suspect that there was discrimination against her by teachers and fellow students,” added Aisha.
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50 suicides in 23 IITs
Modi and Shah also assured Fathima’s family that the government will look into all recent incidents of suicide across other IITs and IIMs too.
According to the latest data submitted in Parliament Monday, there have been 50 suicide cases across 23 IITs in the last five years.
Before meeting the prime minister, Fathima’s father had also approached Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to ensure a fair probe in the case.
(Edited by Myithili Hazarika)
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