Agartala: The National Students' Union of India (NSUI), the students' wing of the Congress, on Wednesday staged a protest in front of Auxilium Girls' School here on the allegation of the "suspicious" role of the school authorities in the death of a student who committed suicide five days back.

Lahari Debbarma, 17, a student of the school, hanged herself at her residence in Bir Mohan Chowdhury Para in Mohanpur subdivision of West Tripura, about 23km from here, last Friday after she was accused of shoplifting by a hypermarket.

Speaking to reporters here this afternoon, Rakesh Das, an NSUI leader, said he had met the school's principal, Sister Celine D'Cunha, and discussed the institution's role.

Earlier, in an FIR, Lahari's mother had accused D'Cunha and a hypermarket management for abetting her daughter's suicide.

"We are not satisfied with the principal's answers. We think her role is suspicious. We demand that the investigating officers confiscate the hard drive which has got CCTV footage from the day when Lahari was called to the school after she was accused of shoplifting at the shopping mall," Das said.

According to reports, the school was closed for holidays on May 19. Lahari went home on May 21 and came to Agartala for shopping on May 24.

Sister D'Cunha said the teenager had visited Agartala accompanied by "an uncle" on May 23. She claimed she found inconsistencies in the version of her mother about her visit to the city.

The principal defended herself saying there was no altercation with Lahari's family and she was not rusticated from hostel as alleged by a few students' organisations.

"We tried to counsel Lahari and advised her mother to take care of her and not allow her to go out alone. Lahari told me that she had also come on May 23. I asked her mother with whom did she come and where did she go? I asked her if she knew the person, but she declined to comment," Sister D'Cunha said.

The IPFT and the All Tri-pura Indigenous Students' Association also staged protests.