Kayalode suicide: five booked on complaint by victim’s friend

The police have registered a case against five persons based on a complaint filed by Rahees, a friend of Razeena, the young woman who died by suicide at Kayalode here.

Mubashir, Faisal, Rafnaz, Suneer, and Zakaria have been named accused in the case which involves charges of unlawful assembly and assault. Mr. Rahees, who appeared at the Pinarayi police station on Saturday, alleged that the accused had confronted Razeena and assaulted her while she was talking to him inside a car.

According to the FIR, they dragged him out, beat him up, threatened him with the release of photographs and seized his three mobile phones. He also stated that one of the accused took him on a scooter to an isolated location and assaulted him again.

Family’s claim denied

The police had earlier arrested three of the five for abetment to suicide, based on a note left by Razeena, which reportedly cited mental distress due to public humiliation. Mr. Rahees denied the family’s claim that he had exploited Razeena financially and told the police that he had met her three years ago through Instagram. A detailed statement was recorded by a police team led by the Thalassery ASP.

CPI(M) charge

Meanwhile, the incident has taken a political turn, with Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] district secretary K.K Ragesh launching a scathing attack on the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI). He accused the party of orchestrating the ‘moral policing’ that led to the young woman’s death.

“What happened in Kayalode was a Taliban-style moral policing. They punished the girl and her friend and gave it wide publicity on social media to shame her,” Mr. Ragesh said.

He also criticised the SDPI’s claims that Rahees was a CPI(M) member, calling the tactic “Goebbelsian propaganda.” Mr. Ragesh alleged that the SDPI had “killed her through humiliation” and held both the SDPI and the Congress responsible, saying the UDF had allowed religious fundamentalists to grow under its fold.

“The Congress is silent and now Razeena is being humiliated again by using her own family,” he added.