Pictures of Jishnu Pranoy's mother being dragged on the ground by constables ignited public outrage.
Highlights
- 18-year-old student found hanging at college in January
- Family alleges slow investigation, mother pushed by cops
- Chief Minister calls her, government ads explain action taken
The family of engineering student Jishnu Pranoy, who was found hanging in his college hostel in January, has ended a hunger strike it began five days ago after the government pledged that anyone responsible for driving the 18-year-old student to suicide will be punished.
Last night, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan called Mahija Viswanath, the student's mother, who remains in hospital after the police pushed her on Wednesday while she was protesting in Thiruvanthapuram about the allegedly slow investigation into her son's death.
Pictures of her being dragged on the ground by constables ignited public outrage and an attack on the Left government by opposition parties.
Over the weekend, an advertisement titled "Jishnu Case - The Truth Behind It" was released by the government in newspapers, detailing the action taken after the student's suicide. The ad claimed that the police's action against Mahija Viswanath is being misrepresented. "It was the intrusion of people from outside that created the clash...the way protests are happening across the state shows that some people are exploiting the family."
"In the advertisement, it says the police did not do anything to us... instead we were literally thrashed by police. Why did the Chief Minister not call Jishnu's mother at least once?" asked Mahija Ashokan before Mr Vijayan contacted her.
"The government will take all steps to get justice for the family," the Chief Minister said yesterday.
Jishnu Pranoy's friends and family say he was harassed by college officials for challenging abrupt changes in the dates of exams. College officials say he had been caught cheating. His teen sister was among his relatives who ended their hunger strike yesterday.
On Sunday, the Vice-Principal of the college in which Jishnu studied was arrested from Chennai. Two others were arrested earlier and released on bail. Two other accused are missing including Sajith Viswanathan, the Public Relations Officer of the engineering college and the son of former state minister KP Viswanathan.