Suicide girl's dad refutes Minister's claim
Published on: Tuesday, February 13, 2018
SEBERANG PERAI: The Form Two student who attempted suicide after her teacher accused her of theft last month had not tried to kill herself before, her father R. Muniandy maintained.Rejecting Deputy Education Minister II Datuk P. Kamalanathan's comment claiming his daughter, Vasanthapiriya, 14, had slit her wrists two years ago, he insisted there was no evidence of this."This is not true at all. If you check, there are no hospital records of such an incident and no police reports, so this is not true at all," he told a press conference at his house in Kampung Tong Hai in Nibong Tebal.
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Muniandy also expressed sadness over recent press reports that claimed of video evidence showing his daughter in the act of stealing the teacher's mobile phone.Penang police chief Datuk A. Thaiveegan earlier also disputed the media reports."There was speculation about my daughter that hurt us as her parents, especially when she's not here with us any more," he said."We never had to take her to the hospital before this. There are no hospital records or police reports.
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You can also check the clinics."She had no wounds on her body," he said.
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"I wish to tell Kamalanathan that I know my daughter. I raised her and I educated her. She has never done this before.He said such rumours only added to the pain and distress his family was already feeling from the loss of their youngest daughter.Vasanthapiriya had wanted to be a doctor and never had any disciplinary issues in school before this, Muniandy added.He then called for a stop to speculative reports about his daughter's death and the event's that led to her suicide attempt."I am her father, I know who she was as a person, she was not who these people accused her of, she was a good girl who loved to sing and to draw," he said.Vasanthapiriya hanged herself in her room in the evening of January 24 after her teacher allegedly accused her of stealing her mobile phone.The teacher had allegedly confined her in a classroom while trying to force her to confess the theft. The teen left a suicide note denying that she stole the device.She had been comatose in the intensive care unit of the Seberang Jaya Hospital before she passed away on February 1. Police say they are still investigating the case from all angles.Muniandy said the police had called him in to record his statement today.Meanwhile, police were still waiting for a forensic report on the closed-circuit television (CCTV) recording from a school in Nibong Tebal to identify the individual who stole the teacher's mobile phone.Penang police chief A Thaiveegan said based on initial investigations, police could not confirm whether the image of an individual in the CCTV was the Form Two student who committed suicide due to the poor quality of the visual."So far I am not able to confirm … it was difficult to ascertain the image in the footage."We need forensic experts to improve the picture quality and so far we are still waiting," he said when commenting on a newspaper report which quoted police sources as confirming the school CCTV recording showed the 14-year-old female student stole the teacher's mobile phone.Thaiveegan said the news report could affect ongoing investigations.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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