TN students’ suicide: Jayalalithaa orders probe, announces aid

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa on Monday ordered an investigation into the case of the three medical students who committed suicide and also announced a grant of Rs. 1 lakh ex-gratia to the families of the deceased.

The declaration from the Chief Minister comes after the Opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) had demanded a judicial probe by a sitting High Court Judge into the alleged suicide of three students of a private institution in the Villupuram district.

DMK chief and former Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi has demanded a judicial probe by a sitting High Court judge into the alleged suicide of three students of a private institution in the state’s Villupuram District.

Suggesting that the incident is being covered up, Karunanidhi said that when the parents of Saranya, Monisha and Priyanka are in a state of denial about them committing suicide, then what was the reason for the ruling AIADMK to delay an investigation.

Yesterday, four people were detained in connection with this case where three second-year students of SVS Medical College of Yoga and Naturopathy and Research Institute at Kallakurichi near Viluppuram in Tamil Nadu committed suicide.

The girls, in their suicide note, have accused the administration of charging excess fees and ‘torture’ and blaming college chairman Vasuki Subramanian for their death.

The three girls namely E. Saranya and V. Priyanka (both 18 years) and T. Monisha (19 years) in a two-page suicide note said that the students had filed several complaints against Subramanian but to no avail. Citing “torture” by the management, the girls hoped that their suicide would finally force the authorities to take action against the chairman.

The girls accused the administration of charging ‘excess fees’ around Rs. six lakh and never giving the bill. They also mentioned that the college lacked proper classes or teachers and there was ‘nothing to learn’.

The students had been protesting for more than a month over lack of infrastructure, but it was only in the last two weeks that the protest turned vigorous.

Their post-mortem report has revealed that they died due to drowning and there is no visible external injury on their bodies. (ANI)