Pics: Umesh Marpalli
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (HB/SP)
Udupi, Aug 1: Karnataka Rakshana Vedike's (KRV) district unit here organized a protest at clock tower near the private bus stand on Tuesday August 1 relating to the death of SSLC student, Kavya, in her hostel room at Moodbidri recently. Kavya's mother, Baby, and father, Lokesh, were present.
Noting that Kavya's death is shrouded in mystery and people connected with this death are not coming into the open with details, the Vedike wanted the air of mystery and secrecy over this incident to be cleared and truth to be made public. It strongly demanded for meting out harsh punishment for the guilty in the case.
KRV district unit president, Ansar Ahmed, said that the people of Karnataka have deemed this to be a case of unnatural death. He said that his organization and its members have no enmity or grouse against either Mohan Alva or Alva's educational institutions. "Our only concern is to bring out the truth in its purest form in this incident. In the past too several cases have happened here. For example, a PU student, Ashwini, had died after jumping from the terrace of a building there. About ten such cases have happened, and in all these cases, only girls have lost their lives," he pointed out.
Ahmed said that the first and foremost demand of the organization is to conduct probe by Central Bureau of Investigation and stringent punishment to persons, irrespective of their eminence and stature, if found guilty.
He said that on the day the girl died and postmortem of the body was to be conducted, a programme had been held in the institution. He claimed that in this programme, no mention about the girl's death was made nor any condolences were offered.
Mother of Kavya, Baby, said that she is certain that Kavya's death happened not on account of suicide but she was murdered. She accused physical training director, Praveen Poojary, of being behind this murder. She questioned the urgency and necessity to shift the body to mortuary after being brought down from the noose in such a short time. Noting that Praveen has been kept away from his duties at present, she wanted him to come out into the open and explain the sequence of events. She said that Praveen should talk publicly, not his lawyers or anyone else. She wanted to know how the body of Kavya was shifted from her hostel room, who were involved with this process, how many did it, etc and also sought CCTV footage.
KRV state convener, Prasannakumar Shetty, noted that currently investigation by Anti Corruption Bureau is in progress. He said the organization does not have trust on the police who are too eager to declare Alvas innocent in advance even before properly beginning the probe. "Police seem to be misleading the people. This death occurred under mysterious circumstances and people have the right to know all the details. The state should order investigation by CBI. CCTV footage now provided is neither comprehensive not trustworthy. At present, six physical education teachers work as coaches in Alva's, although they are also working in government schools, he claimed. He wanted to know why education department is keeping silence over this matter without questioning the concerned. He demanded immediate dismissal of these teachers.
Terming this as an unusual death, he demanded legal action against the guilty and punishment. He noted that parents of the students studying at Moodbidri are now panicky. He added that the Vedike has received several calls asking it not to hold any protest. "We will stand by truth and justice. We hereby set deadline of 15 days to bring out the truth. If this demand is not met within the deadline, organizations from various parts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts will come together and lay siege to the college at Moodbidri," he warned.
Another member, Robert Rosario, noted that Alva repeatedly has been expressing worry over the reputation of his institution getting sullied. "A girl has died here. It will be disgrace to the deceased girl if this is accepted as suicide. We will be guilty of compromising her honour if we treat this case as suicide. Alva's has been claiming everywhere that the girl ended her life but this is tantamount to insulting the girl. If she had been mentally harassed on account of the physical education director, he is unfit to be in that job. If Kavya were alive, she would have gone on to become a national level badminton champion and brought laurels to her motherland. Murders have been happening here, but not enough material related to them come out. If Kavya was given her right to live, the question of harming the reputation of the institution would not have arisen. Police have themselves helped in shifting the body of Kavya to the mortuary in a hurry. Truth is not being revealed, and a drama as per a set plan is being presented before the eyes of the people. Police involvement in destruction of evidence is suspected. Hence they should be accused in the case. We demand CBI investigation. Local police seem to have kept their higher ups in the dark," he added.
Leaders of organizations, Shaheel Rahamatulla, Lokesh George D'Souza, Madhur, M G Nagendra, Ashish Ajjarkad, Lokesh Kanchinadka, and Umesh Jogi were present.