Badiadka (Kasaragod): A tenth-class student died here on Monday after consuming rat poison. She was under treatment at a private hospital in Mangaluru. According to police, the girl allegedly consumed poison due to persistent harassment, sexual assault, and blackmail from a young Gulf returnee. 

The accused, Anwar (24) from Kottakkunnu in Mogral Puthur grama panchayat, was booked by the Badiadka police under the sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. A case of aggravated penetrative sexual assault - Sections 5 and 6 of the POCSO Act - was registered against the accused, said the Vidyanagar Station House Officer. Police arrested Anwar, who was absconding initially, from Bengaluru and was remanded in judicial custody. "We will now press abetment to suicide charge also against him," added Vidyanagar SHO who is investigating the case.

The girl met Anwar on Instagram six months ago. "When I discouraged her, she told me that she would not do anything against my wishes," said the girl's father. "I also told Anwar to back off from pestering my daughter," he said.

The girl was discovered in a critical condition after being poisoned inside her house on January 23. The statement, she gave to police and the magistrate while being on treatment, also stated that she attempted suicide after constant harassment from Anwar.

"She told me (from the hospital bed) that Anwar used to waylay her while on the way to school and threaten her by saying he would send her photographs too. He also threatened to break the engagement of her cousin," the father, a timber merchant, said. "He (Anwar) was persistently threatening her but she never said anything at home. If only she told me once... this would not have happened," he added.

He said he heard his daughter's statement to the police." She also told me from the hospital bed that there were five people behind it," the girl's father added.