Police on Thursday arrested five girl students of IPMS College of Aviation, Thiruvananthapuram, for allegedly harassing Dalit student Athira IS, who reportedly fell off a lodge while attempting to escape the ordeal.
The arrested, all 19-year-old and classmates of Athira, have been identified as Neethu, Athira - both natives of Thiruvalla, Shaija from Kollam, Vaishnavi from Thiruvananthapuram and Shalu, a native of Alappuzha, reports TOI.
The students were arrested after the police recorded the victim’s statement on Monday.
Family members of Athira have demanded a detailed probe into the circumstances in which she fell from the top of a lodge at Karipur while on a training programme. They also alleged that the police were trying to frame it as a case of suicide attempt, reports Deccan Chronicle.
The women were undergoing training at the Karipur airport as part of their BBA aviation management programme at the IPMS College of Aviation, Thiruvananthapuram. Indira, mother of Athira, alleged that the girl was facing physical and mental harassment from her classmates and head of the institution, reports TOI.
Indira, a Kudumbashree cleaning worker, said that she had paid around Rs 1.5 lakh for the course with the support of various people. “I asked her to ignore the harassment and complete the course,” she said.
Meanwhile Indira also suspected that the girls started harassing her daughter after she got married to her lover Prasanth. She added that airport authorities had handed over to police the visuals of the girls harassing Athira on airport premises on November 29.
Indira said, “That day, the girls reached Athira’s room and physically harassed her. She ran out and fell off accidentally. Media must stop portraying it as suicide,” reports TOI.
SC/ST Welfare Minister AK Balan has sanctioned an urgent medical assistance of Rs. 1 lakh to the BBA student after Athira’s relatives filed a complaint to SC/ST department on Wednesday.