Alleging sexual harassment, Class 11 girl ends life in Mangadu

The suicide note had ‘Stop Sexual Harassment’ on top, though the victim did not specify who sexually harassed her, and ends with the words - Justice for me. Another note retrieved from her room with the same handwriting said she did not that her body was being used.

The deceased, the younger daughter of a bank staff, was a Class 11 student of a government school in Poonamallee. On Saturday, her mother stepped out to purchase essentials. When she returned home an hour later, the girl’s room was found locked from inside. When they broke open the door, she was found hanging, police said.

In the suicide note retrieved from the room, the victim has stated that the school is not safe, and asked not to trust the teachers and relatives. She added that she was unable to focus on studies or sleep properly due to the nightmarish incident, and blamed the society for girls feeling unsafe. The note added that only the cemetery and the mother’s womb were the safest places for women.

Mangadu police registered a case of suspicious death and have begun investigation.

Students stage protest, professor arrested

Students of a private college in Pallikaranai staged a protest inside the campus on Friday night alleging that a professor misbehaved with women students. As the students remained steadfast on seeking action against him, the police secured the man on Friday and night and placed him under arrest on Saturday morning.

According to the police, the students of Asan Memorial Institute of Hotel Management in Pallikaranai had recently lodged a complaint against professor Abraham Alex (48) of Madambakkam for allegedly misbehaving with women students and using words with double meanings.

Though they informed the department head and college administration, no action was allegedly taken against Alex. Students alleged that the man turned vindictive after the complaint was filed. Frustrated by this, the students gathered on the college campus around noon on Friday and staged a protest seeking action against the professor.

Sources said the college administration failed to hold talks with the students and did not even ask them to give up the protest. When a police team from Pallikaranai station visited the campus and tried to pacify the students on the promise of taking action against Alex after inquiry, the students refused to relent and sought his arrest immediately.

As the students continued their protest till night, the police took Alex to the station for inquiry. Later, after finding that Alex misbehaved with students, the police registered a case under IPC Section 354 (a) and arrested him.