- By Aashish Vashistha
- Sun, 31 Mar 2024 09:36 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
In a tragic incident, a 17-year-old polytechnic diploma student of a private engineering college has died by suicide after jumping off her college building in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam. Before taking the extreme step, the girl reportedly sent a series of WhatsApp messages to her sister, claiming she was in distress following sexual harassment by some people.
The girl alleged that the harassers had taken pictures of her and threatened to upload them on social media. She also alleged that other girls in the college are facing a similar issue.
The girl’s family reportedly received a call from college authorities around 10 pm on Thursday that she had gone missing. The family later informed the police after the girl did not answer their calls for some time. However, at around 12:50 am on Friday, the girl sent a message to her sister in Telugu saying, “Sorry didi, I made you all tense, but I have to go.”
"Don't get tense, listen to me, I can't tell you why I am leaving and, even if I do, you won't understand. Please forget about me. I am really sorry. Mom and Dad, I am grateful that you gave birth to me and brought me up. My chapter is coming to an end," she wrote in Telugu, as quoted by NDTV.
In her letter, she also addressed her father and said that she was taking extreme steps as she was sexually harassed in the college and alleged that the harassers had threatened to upload her pictures online.
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“You may ask why I am not complaining to the faculty, but that won't help. They (her harassers) have taken my photos and are threatening me. There are other girls as well. We aren't being able to tell anyone and we are not being able to avoid college either. We are caught in between. If I file a police complaint or approach the authorities, they will release my photos on social media,” she wrote.
“The reason I am taking this decision is that if I go away now, you will feel bad for a few years and you will forget later. But, if I am around, you will look at me and feel bad all the time," she told her father before leaving a final message for her elder sister: "Sorry didi, I made you all tense, but I have to go,” she wrote.
The girl’s family swiftly responded to her messages and pleaded with her not to make any rash decisions. The teenager’s body was discovered sometime later. The girl’s cell phone was seized and an investigation into the matter is underway.
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