‘3 Tamil Nadu students were murdered’

It was murder by smothering, argued noted lawyer R. Sankarasubbu while debunking the claim made by SVS College of Yoga and Naturopathy in Villupuram that its three women students had committed suicide by drowning in a well near the campus in January.

The post-mortem reports of the three students — Monisha, Priyanka and Saranya — all aged 19 and studying in the second year of the five-and-half-year course, clearly showed blackening of the nose and mouth portions and that meant they were smothered to death, said Sankarasubbu.

“We have photographs of the blackened nose and mouth portions. The colour change happens about 24 hours after death by smothering. They did not commit suicide. Their bodies were thrown into the well,” the lawyer told this newspaper on Monday. He had presented his case forcefully before Justice R. Mala of the Madras high court earlier in the day. The judge posted the case for Tuesday for further hearing.

The three students were found floating in a well about two km from the college on January 23, with their hands tied with duppattas. College trustee Subramanian had claimed that they committed suicide by jumping into the well after leaving behind suicide notes.

While the families of Priyanka and Saranya buried their girls after postmortem at the Villupuram government medical college hospital, Monisha’s father M. K. Tamilarasan suspected foul play and demanded a second postmortem. He moved the Madras high court with Sankarasubbu as his lawyer.

In his petition, Tamilarasan contended that his daughter and two other students Priyanka and Saranya were conducting several protests demanding that the college management provide basic facilities. His daughter went to college after the Pongal holidays on January 22 and there was no communication from her after that. Since the three girls challenged the demand of Rs 2 lakh by the college from them, the principal, director, warden and their men murdered them and threw the bodies in the nearby well, he alleged.

Justice R. Subbiah on January 27 ordered a second postmortem of Monisha’s body. He also directed that Dr P. Sampath Kumar, head of the department of forensic science and vice-principal of the Sri Ramachandra Medical College in Porur, to be present at the second postmortem. The results are yet to come.

Subsequently, Saranya’s father Elumalai too joined in the “fight for justice”. His petition came before Justice Mala on Monday when the first postmortem reports were produced by the crime branch CID investigating the case as per the directions from the chief minister following public outrage. Lawyer Sankarasubbu pointed out that all the three postmortem reports had confirmed that the nose-mouth portions were blackened and that confirmed the suspicion that the girls were smothered to death. Why then didn’t the CB-CID alter the case to one of murder, he asked in the court.

To this, the CB-CID officer investigating the case replied that she was unable to proceed with her investigation in proper manner and speed as she was forced to spend time attending to the court hearings due to the present litigation.

While the SVS correspondent Vasuki and her son are in judicial custody, her husband Subramanian admitted himself in a hospital saying he needed treatment as he had undergone kidney transplant recently.