Suspecting foul play, family of deceased Jadavpur University student to file police complaint

Kolkata: Days after the National Commission for Women (NCW) sought an Action Taken Report from the Kolkata Police Commissioner over the death of a female student of Jadavpur University, her father has now alleged foul play in his daughter’s death and decided to file a police complaint.

After performing the last rites of his daughter on Sunday night, the father wondered why his daughter, who didn’t know how to swim, would enter the water body inside the campus from the edge of which her body was recovered.

“I don’t know whether Anamika was deliberately pushed into the water by someone. She did not know how to swim. She did not consume alcohol. If she really did drink that night, someone conspired against her. I want the police to question her friends who were present at the site on that night,” said the father.

He further said, “At first we thought no none was responsible for her death. However, questions started haunting us afterwards. We want the truth to come out. We will lodge a formal complaint with the police.”

The development comes days after the NCW took suo motu cognisance of the student’s death at Jadavpur University campus and wrote a letter to Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma, seeking an action taken report within three days.

The Commission also sought a thorough and impartial investigation into the incident along with an enquiry into the role of university authorities in ensuring campus safety. It also demanded strict action if any foul play is found.

On the night of September 11, the body of a female student was recovered from a water body within the Jadavpur University campus. The victim was a third-year student majoring in English Literature at the university.

While the body was recovered a little after 10 P.M., a cultural programme was going on within the university campus by the members of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), the students’ wing of the CPI(M).

The cultural programme was stopped immediately after the information surfaced about the recovery of the student’s body. She was immediately rushed to the nearby K.P.C. Medical College and Hospital, where she was declared brought dead.

Following the tragic death of the student on the campus, Jadavpur University authorities have tightened security and imposed several restrictions for students and outsiders.

In a circular issued late on Friday night, the varsity authorities have forbidden trespassing, morning and evening walks, use of narcotics and alcohol inside the campus and entry without valid identity cards.

According to the initial post-mortem examination report, the student died by drowning. However, it is not clear from the initial autopsy report whether she was drunk or not.

According to the police, they are awaiting the viscera report, which will take some time to arrive, to determine whether drugs or other toxic substances were present in her body at the time of drowning. However, the initial autopsy report stated that no signs of injury were found on the body.

Sources said that the female student, along with some of her friends, was drinking alcohol beside a pond on the campus. Later, all of them wanted to get into the water. During police interrogation, the friends claimed that they warned the female student not to get into the water, as she didn’t know how to swim.

However, she went into the pond as it was not that deep. She soon lost her balance and began drowning, said the source.

Her friends picked her up from the pond and called for help. The security guards were also informed. When she was taken to the hospital, the doctors declared her dead.

IANS