The police appear to have come to the conclusion that the second-year Intermediate student, whose badly charred body was found near her home on Tuesday night by her parents at Appannapalem village under Golugonda police station limits in Visakhapatnam district, has committed suicide.
But local people say that there is no valid reason for the girl to take the extreme step, and it needs to be probed from a different angle.
Talking to The Hindu , ASP of Narsipatnam B.S. Yesubabu said that there were no external injuries or struggle marks on the body of the girl. There was also no evidence of any kind of disturbance at the scene of crime to suggest a different angle, he said.
Moreover, the girl walked for about 30 feet from where she doused herself with kerosene and set herself afire.
“She moved towards the bathroom, probably to douse fire, but collapsed a few feet before and succumbed to the burns,” said Mr. Yesubabu.
Police also said that the girl was not doing academically well and had failed in three subjects in the first year and could get through only in two of them in the supplementary examination. “Probably, she was in a depressed state of mind. Moreover, the kerosene bottle and the matchbox belonged to the family,” said Sub-Inspector of Golugunda police station N. Joga Rao.
However, local people and the girl’s parents claim that she was under no pressure, and that in interior villages it really does not matter if a girl is good at studies or not. The locals also say that there is no pertinent cause as the family is financially well. On the allegation that the girl was raped and murdered, Mr. Yesubabu said that there was no evidence to support it. “ We are awaiting the post-mortem report. But it may be difficult to get a clear report as the body was badly charred,” he said.
There were no external injuries or struggle marks on
the body of the girl
B.S. Yesubabu
ASP of Narsipatnam