A woman CPI(M) activist was found dead on Thursday night at a one-room building in Udiyankulangara owned by the party in rural Thiruvananthapuram, according to the police probing the case.
The woman, Asha, 41-year-old, had allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling. Asha was an ASHA worker and according to her family was also a member of the CPI(M) party. A suicide note, purportedly written by her, was found from the spot, in which she had named two partymen—local committee member Kottaman Rajan and Branch Secretary Anatharavilakam Joy—for mentally torturing her and accused the party of not paying heed to her complaint.
“Initial investigation indicates this to be suicide. A case has been registered and a probe is underway,” a police official privy to the matter said.
Asha is survived by her husband and two sons. Her brother B Unnikrishnan believes that there could be more to the case than meets the eyes.
CPIM says Asha was just a party sympathiser, not a member
Asha had reportedly attended a committee meeting of the party a few days ago. But, the party had denied that she was a member. Investigations are underway in the suicide case of Asha, and the police will also be ascertaining if she was indeed a member of the party or just a supporter.
While news reports state that the suicide note received from Asha had mentioned only the names of the CPI members, a report published by ‘The News Minute’ says that the suicide note also included financial dealings Asha had unearthed as a Kudumbashree worker.
CPI(M) Thiruvananthapuram district secretary Anavoor Nagappan said that the district committee had not received any complaint raised by the deceased woman and maintained that the woman was just a party sympathiser. He also added that the party would look into the incident, claiming that a probe has been launched because of the names of party members coming up in the alleged suicide note.
