Tears flow freely at Vasanthapiriya's funeral

NIBONG TEBAL: Tears flowed freely as close to a thousand people paid their last respects to M. Vasanthapiriya, who succumbed to her injuries a week after attempting to take her own life.
Friends and relatives sobbed and wailed in despair as they approached the coffin of the teenager. Surrounded by family, both her parents were inconsolable, as they wailed and called out her name.
Many students, still clad in their school uniforms, also attended the Hindu funeral service at her home in Kampung Tong Hai today.
The hearse bearing her coffin, departed her home for the Hindu burial ground on Jalan Changkat at around 2pm.
The Form Two student suffered brain injuries after she attempted to hang herself last Wednesday, after she was accused by four teachers of stealing a smartphone from one of them in school the week before.
She passed away just a day after the Holy Thaipusam festival here, where hours earlier, her family gave prayers and hoped for her recovery.
The frail girl was placed in the intensive care unit of the Seberang Jaya Hospital for the last eight days, after she was found barely alive by her father in her bedroom, with a suicide note - "Teacher, i did not take your phone" - nearby.
She had also bade farewell to her parents and grandmother in the note, before tying herself to a steel rod in her bedroom.
She had apparently decided to hang herself while her teacher was discussing the alleged theft with her parents at their home.
The incident has drawn the ire of politicians and also angered netizens, with many calling for justice, following the circumstances which led to her death.