Tinsukia, Sept. 1: The body of Namrata Sarmah, 13, who ended her life on Monday after she was allegedly insulted and hit by her school principal, was found floating in the Buri Dihing river in Upper Assam's Dibrugarh district.

The body was found 12km downstream of the Buri Dihing last evening and sent for autopsy this morning after the girl's maternal uncle identified the body. Namrata was a Class VII student of St Mary's school at Naharkatia in Dibrugarh district. The police are still 'gathering evidence' against those responsible for her death.

Her father Putul Sarmah today lambasted the police for carrying out a perfunctory probe into his daughter's death. 'I don't see any police action. Already four days have passed since the suicide note was recovered but the police is yet to arrest anyone,' he rued. 'For them it may be one of several cases but I have lost everything and the culprits are still roaming free,' he said.

'I did not even get to read my daughter's suicide note. I have heard that she wrote on both sides of the paper,' said Sarmah, who is desperately trying to meet the police team investigating the case but they are 'too busy to give time to the person who lost his daughter'. Sarmah said, 'The police are not giving me time to meet them. I called the officer yesterday to say I want to read the suicide note. He asked me to come to the police station. I rushed to the station but by the time I reached, the officer had already left. Today, I called them at 9am and was told to come at noon, but when I called them at noon I was told that they are busy in a meeting. I demand that the suicide note be made public.'

The officer-in-charge of Naharkatia police station told The Telegraph, 'We are investigating the matter but no arrest has been made so far.'

A police source said a mobile phone of a teacher, who was not in the picture on the day of the incident, had been seized. 'We have also seized CCTV footage from the school but I am not aware whether statements of Namrata's classmates, who were present on the day the principal allegedly slapped and insulted her, have been recorded.'

The mother of one of Namrata's classmates said the police have not yet spoken to Namrata's fellow students, including her daughter.

In her purported suicide note, Namrata had named principal Sister Rency saying she was 'very bad' and 'she self me before all my friends'. The 13-year-old seemed to have misspelt the word slap and wrote 'she self me....'.

Hundreds of people gheraoed Naharkatia police station this evening demanding justice for Namrata. Her body was brought to the police station after conducting autopsy at Assam Medical College and Hospital in Dibrugarh for handing over to her family.

Criminal lawyer Bijon Mahajan said the police can arrest a person on charges of abetment to suicide if he/she is named in a suicide note but during trial the name in the suicide note alone may not be enough proof to convict the accused in the court.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY PANKAJ SARMA IN GUWAHATI