Father Of Chennai Student, Murdered By Stalker, Allegedly Dies By Suicide

The father of a Tamil Nadu college student - who was killed after a stalker allegedly pushed her in front of a running train on Thursday - has died in a suspected case of suicide. The police said they are waiting for the man's autopsy report.

Residents in the Chennai neighbourhood where the father and his daughter lived say they are devastated.

The Tamil Nadu Police have transferred the case to the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department, or CB-CID.

Chief Minister MK Stalin has given his condolences.

"We all have a collective responsibility to ensure that such incidents don't happen to any woman. I was shattered by the tragic killing of the college student. Those of you who read about it must have also been grief-stricken," the Chief Minister said, adding that whether it's a boy or a girl, children should be brought up with concern for society and protect and respect others.

"Social education is as important as textbook education. We should teach them to respect and protect others as much as their own," he said.

The investigators suspect that the man, who allegedly pushed the student in front of a train, may have proposed to her and she had rejected it.

"A spurned lover appears to be behind this. The Railway Police are also investigating. We would will them all assistance," Chennai Police Commissioner Shankar Jiwal told NDTV.

Initial reports suggested there was no CCTV footage. Another officer from the city police confirmed this. "We don't know why, but we hear there is no CCTV footage," the officer said.

This case has parallels to the murder of a woman techie on the platform of Chennai's Nungambakkam train station by a stalker, who later died by suicide in judicial custody. In that case too, there was no CCTV camera at the station.