When 14-year-old M Vasantha Piriya’s father found her unconscious, hanging from a shawl around her neck in her room, his first reaction was to scream in anguish.

“I think the whole kampung heard me screaming.

“I quickly performed first aid and got my brother to send her to the hospital,” recounted R Muniandy, 54, as reported by The Star Online today.

The teenager was brought to Sungai Bakap Hospital and later transferred to Seberang Jaya Hospital’s intensive care unit.

She died at 3.35am at the hospital yesterday without regaining consciousness.

Vasantha Piriya had reportedly attempted suicide last week after a teacher accused her of stealing her iPhone and then allegedly locked the teenager in a solitary room and demanded her to confess before sending her home.

Muniandy, a former cook, said his daughter was “extremely sad” when she came home that day and had told her father that she did not take her teacher’s phone.

“I told her not to worry and that I would sort it out. She told her grandmother the same thing,” he said.

“She locked herself in her room and pushed a sofa to block the door. When we forced ourselves into the room, she had hanged herself,” he added.

Vasantha Piriya had left a note before her suicide, telling her parents and grandmother that she loved them, Muniandy said.

“She also said that she loved the teacher and did not steal her handphone. She also said it was her own decision (to attempt suicide),” he said.

The teenager’s aunt A Lalitha, 43, said that her niece was humiliated by the theft accusation.

“The teacher might get her phone back but will my sister get her daughter back?” she had asked.

Muniandy said the family is now focusing on performing her funeral rites, set for 1pm today.

Meanwhile, South Seberang Perai police chief Shafee Abdul Samad had confirmed that the police had completed their probe into this case and have submitted the investigation papers to the deputy public prosecutor’s office.

The case was investigated under Section 309 of the Penal Code for attempted suicide, and it is up to the deputy public prosecutor to decide on further action, he said.

The Penang Education Department’s parallel investigation has also been completed, said the department’s deputy director Mohd Jamil Mohamed.

“We are in the process of preparing the final report which will be submitted to the Education Ministry for follow-up action,” he said.