Mumbai: 16-yr-old commits suicide after being assaulted over gold chain

Mangalore Today News Network

Mumbai Dec 14, 2015 : Four days after consuming poison at her college, a 16-year-old girl died in hospital yesterday. After her father alleged that she had been pushed to take the extreme step by a stalker, the police arrested a 23-year-old for stalking, sexual assault and abetting suicide.

 

Cops said the girl was also under pressure to recover a gold chain she had given the boy. The Matunga police arrested Ilaiyaraja Velpandi (23) under Sections 354 (D) (stalking) and 305 (abetment of suicide of child or insane person) of the Indian Penal Code, along with Sections 8 and 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.

The deceased girl’s father said, “I was unaware of the whole situation until Wednesday, when I got a call that my daughter had attempted suicide in college and had been admitted in Sion Hospital.”

He rushed to the hospital and learnt that his daughter was trying to retrieve a gold chain she had given to Velpandi. The family also alleged that the girl had messaged Velpandi and threatened to commit suicide if he refused to return the chain.

“One of her close friends said Velpandi would go to her college with his friends and had even assaulted her there. Some three to four months ago, my daughter had taken a chain from my younger son, claiming that the mother of one of her friends was ill, for which they urgently needed cash. She claimed she would return it to him at the earliest,” said her father.

“Whenever my daughter asked the accused to return the gold chain, he would assault her. Fed up, she drank poison in college,” added her father. One of the students at the same college, Satish, recalled the incident from December 9. “I was standing outside the college when my friend informed me that a girl and a boy were fighting there. We ran to the spot and saw that the girl had consumed poison. We took her to Sion hospital, and her friend Velpandi had also accompanied us, but after she was admitted, he ran away,” said Satish.

The police said that the girl and the accused became familiar with each other on Facebook some six months ago. “We have arrested the accused on the basis of the allegations by the family members of the deceased. Further investigation is on,” said an officer from the Matunga police station.

 

Courtesy:Mid-Day