Chennai, Nov 13 (IANS): Actress Athulya Ravi, who hails from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, has called for severe punishment to those responsible for the death of a 17-year-old girl who allegedly committed suicide on Thursday after being sexually harrassed by one of her school teachers in Coimbatore.

Registering her views on social media on Saturday, the actress, expressing her helplessness at not being able to do anything about the injustice meted out to the victim, said that she felt ashamed.

Stating that she had always been proud growing up nearby Chinmaya Vidyalaya school, the actress said that this news had ruined everything.

The actress said that she still wasn't able to digest the news and that she felt bad for the victim's family. "Punishment (to the perpetrators) should be severe," she said.

Athulya isn't the only one who has responded strongly to the news of this disturbing event.

Several people including actor Kamal Haasan have been calling for stringent punishment to the suspects.