Parents of JU student, who was found dead in pond, claim murder

Kolkata's prestigious Jadavpur University (JU) is facing yet another controversy. The parents of a student who died after falling into a pond on the campus last week lodged a complaint with the police on Monday (September 15), claiming their daughter was murdered.

Earlier in the day, they met Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma and other officers at the Lalbazar headquarters.

The English Literature student was found floating in the pond on the night of September 11 and declared dead at a nearby hospital.

Also read: West Bengal: Tension grips Jadavpur University campus day after violent protests

Injury marks on body

“The parents, in their complaint with the Jadavpur Police Station, alleged that their daughter was murdered. They have mentioned that there were several injury marks on her body. We have started an investigation on the basis of their complaint,” an officer told news agency PTI.

“The parents met the police commissioner and other senior officers earlier to consult them regarding their next step,” the officer said.

Unnamed sources told PTI that Verma assured them a speedy investigation into the matter.

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Friends questioned

Investigators on Monday questioned three friends of the deceased student, Anamika Mandal, in connection with her death. On Sunday, four other friends were also questioned.

“They are Anamika’s close friends. Among them is a couple who spotted her in the pond, while others took her to a hospital,” the officer told PTI.

Post-mortem has indicated “drowning” as the primary cause of the girl’s death. The police are now trying to piece together the sequence of events leading up to the night of September 11.

NCW writes to CP

Following the incident, police registered a suo-motu case and initiated an investigation.

The National Commission for Women has also taken suo-motu cognisance of the incident and written to the Kolkata Police commissioner for a thorough investigation.

NCW chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar, in a letter to the commissioner, asked for an action-taken report within three days.

Also read: Bengal Guv calls JU convocation ‘illegal’, says he is seeking legal opinion

Parents cry foul

Talking to reporters on Sunday after performing Anamika’s last rites, her father Arnab Mandal said he was puzzled why his daughter, who didn’t know how to swim, would go to the edge of the waterbody on the campus around 10 pm.

Mandal said a professor handed him her mobile phone and hair clip, but could not identify the student who collected the items from the pondside and deposited them with him.

He said, “I wonder whether Anamika was deliberately pushed into the water by someone. My daughter did not consume alcohol. If she really did that night, someone conspired against her. I want the police to question her friends present at the site on that night.”

(With agency inputs)