Kochi: The mystery surrounding the death of 16-year-old Adithya in Chottanikkara deepens, as her family’s search for answers is mired in delay in investigation and missing digital evidence. While police cite a suicide note blaming grief over the death of a “Korean friend” she met on Instagram, the family alleges that the probe only moved forward after they themselves cracked her phone’s password and pressed authorities to send it for forensic analysis. Moreover, the police said that crucial data regarding her “Korean friend” was missing by the time the phone was unlocked and the family suspected whether anyone other than Adithya had access to the account.

Adithya, a Plus-One student at Chottanikkara Vocational Higher Secondary School, was found in an abandoned water-fill quarry near her house on January 27, a few hours after she left for school. But for her father, Mahesh, the search for truth felt paralysed from the start. When he first went to the station for an update, a few days after the death, he was met with technical and financial hurdles rather than leads.

“They told me it would take more than ₹1 lakh to get the phone unlocked using cyber experts. They said it could not be affordable. My lawyer and I were just stunned; we were left wondering if they actually expected us to pay for it. But at that time, I was not in a mental state to discuss or argue over that, and I returned home,” Mahesh told Onmanorama.

Feeling that the investigation into his only daughter’s death was at a standstill, Mahesh and his wife, Remya, decided to help. “Sitting at home, we brainstormed possible password combinations using Adithya’s birthday and name. When we brought our list to the police station the next day, one of our guesses finally worked, and the phone was unlocked,” Remya, Adithya’s mother said.

However, the breakthrough only brought more questions. The police checked the phone for around thirty minutes after it was opened. They told them the device was largely empty, most chats had been deleted, and nothing “suspicious” was visible, except for a folder of hidden photos that remained locked behind a second password, which could not be accessed.

“Opening the phone itself was delayed, and only after we opened it did the police check it. We need to know when that data was deleted and if anyone else had access to her Instagram account. We felt the investigation was ineffective, so we decided to speak to the media. Only after the news came out, the police even decided to send the police for forensic analysis,” Mahesh said.

The ‘Korean friend’ narrative feels like a cruel fiction to those who knew Adithya best. Her teacher, Biju KS, said that an Instagram account linked to this supposed friend had 19 followers the day Adithya died, but today, it has only five.

“Whether it was a real Korean person’s account or a fake one is yet to be clear. The police should find out whether Adithya was pranked by someone, which finally led to her death,” Biju said, remembering Adithya as a girl who always answered questions with a smile and showed no signs of a secret, troubled life.

Under the pressure of media attention, the police have finally sent the device for a formal forensic sweep, and they claimed the investigation is on track.

Meanwhile, the police denied allegations of any lapse in the investigation, maintaining that the case is being actively probed and that leads would emerge only after a detailed forensic examination of the phone. They also rejected claims that the cost of unlocking the device was discussed with the parents.

“When the phone was locked, we explored multiple options to unlock it, including approaching a private technology firm, which quoted a cost of around ₹2 lakh. However, this was never discussed with the parents. Even if we had proceeded with that option, the cost would have been borne by the police. In any case, before that became necessary, the parents themselves helped unlock the phone, and we are now awaiting the forensic results,” a senior police officer said.

Responding to queries on whether the Instagram account could have been a prank by one of Adithya’s friends, the police said they had received no such leads so far. “A detailed examination of the phone should provide answers to many of these questions,” the officer added.

Remya said they deserve to know the truth about her daughter’s death. “Our lives are now meaningless as we lost our only daughter. She killed herself, but we want to know why she did so. The truth about the ‘Korean friend’ should come out. The police have to find it. We have the right to know the truth,” Remya said.