An 18-year-old tribal student was found hanging inside a vacant house on the Aralam farm in Kannur district in Kerala. Though the police said that prima facie it appeared to be a case of suicide, the relatives of the deceased have raised suspicion.
According to the police, the deceased, identified as Jithu, a Class XII student, was found hanging in the house on Monday. Based on statements provided by tribal promoters and panchayat members, the boy was allegedly having an affair with a 19-year-old girl and he took the extreme step following differences between them.
However, the relatives of the deceased claimed that there was an effort to hide the truth as injury marks were found on his body.
Biju, an uncle of the deceased, told The Hindu that bloodstains were found on his shirt and the body was smeared with mud. There were also marks on the legs, which may suggest that the body was dragged, he claimed.
He said that Jithu who was staying in block 11 in the area visited block 13 where the girl was staying after she had called him. "Following this, the girl called his brothers to inquire if Jithu had reached back home. When they went in search of him, they found him hanging inside the house. They quickly took the noose out of his neck,” he said.
He has accused the police of not visiting the scene soon enough and conducting an enquiry. The girl was also reportedly yet to be questioned by the police, said Mr. Biju.
Questioned about the delay, the police attributed it to the “parents of the deceased being in shock”, adding that a full-on inquiry would be conducted soon.
Postmortem result
Regarding postmortem examination report, the police said that the doctor had confirmed that it was a case of suicide. The body had been buried after the postmortem examination.
Meanwhile, Sreeram Koyyor, president of Adivasi Dalit Munnetta Samithi, claimed that the fact that the police delayed an investigation in the incident raised suspicion. He called for a proper inquiry.
