Malappuram: The mysterious death of a 17-year-old girl in Chaliyar river at Edavannapara near here has taken a fresh twist, with her parents rubbishing cops’ claim that she died by suicide. She was a bold girl who participated in campaigns against suicide and would never take such an extreme step, her sister told Manorama News.

But the cops are basing the arguments on a WhatsApp message she had sent to her sister citing the mental pressures she was facing to underscore their finding that it was a case of suicide. The message was that she was finding it difficult to cope with mental pressures and that there was no point in leading such a life, cops said.

The girl could have reached Chaliyar by 6 pm on February 5 and her body was fished out from the river two hours later. The body was floating with the face facing towards the river bed. Clothes were missing from the upper part of the body, but still, the police say the initial postmortem points toward a case of suicide.

Vazhakkad police had arrested Oorkadavu native V Siddique Ali, 43, under the POSCO Act in the case. Ali, a karate instructor, was sexually abusing the girl, her family had alleged.

The family had submitted a complaint to the Kozhikode Child Welfare Office, but the girl was not in a mental frame of mind to record her complaint when Kondotty police came for the investigation. Her suicide happened when the girl’s family had decided to proceed with the POCSO case against the Karate instructor.