The State government has ordered a Crime Branch (CB) inquiry into the suspected suicide of a ninth standard student from an impoverished Dalit family in Malappuram.
It has formed a special team under SP, CBCID, K.V. Santosh.
The police seem not to have bought the theory that the student had "set herself ablaze" with kerosene because she could ill afford to buy a smartphone, laptop computer or television to partake in online classes that commenced on June 1.
The victim was a student of the Government Higher Secondary School, Irimbalayam. She had died due to severe burn injuries suffered in the compound of a house a little away from her home in the neighbourhood. It was unclear whether the student had left behind any suicide note.
The Crime Branch would investigate whether the inability to attend classes had triggered a sense of helplessness in the student and prompted her to take her life. Officials said the scenario seemed unlikely.
Teachers had identified her in advance as one among 25 students in the school who had no means to partake in online classes broadcast. The class teacher had spoken to the student and assured her the school would ensure she did not miss out on online classes.
Moreover, the panchayat education committee at Irimbilayam and the school PTA had announced that they had an action plan to ensure that the 25 children got access to online learning immediately.
However, the girl's father, a manual labourer, had said that his daughter had committed suicide because she could not attend the online classes. His first information statement had initiated the investigation by the local police.
The police felt the case needed a thorough and sustained investigation by a special CBCID team. The girl's death had sparked off a political controversy in the State with the Opposition charging that the remote learning scheme announced by the Education Department had by-passed poor students from marginalised sections of society largely.