According to a judicial probe report investigating the mysterious death of Sindh University (SU) student Naila Rind which was presented in court on Monday, the student allegedly committed suicide following exploitation and blackmail by the accused in the case after the two exchanged photos of an intimate nature.

Rind’s body was found hanging from the ceiling fan of her room in SU’s Marvi Hostel in Jamshoro on January 1, 2017. She was a final-year student of the Sindhi department.

Anis Khaskheli, a lecturer at a school in Jamshoro, was arrested in connection with the case on the basis of the victim's cellphone records. He later received bail in the case.

A division bench of the Sindh High Court Hyderabad circuit, comprising Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Fahim Ahmed Siddiqui, had ordered a judicial probe into the case earlier this year while hearing a constitutional petition filed by Qirat Fatima and seven others through Ali Ahmed Palh advocate.

The report, submitted in court today by the Hyderabad District and Sessions Judge Amjad Ali Bohio, recorded the statements of the investigation officer (IO) and Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Tariq Walait, as well as the accused.

SSP Walait told the judge that on the basis of the evidence and statements in the report, the IO believes the compelling cause, or reason, behind Rind's death was deception and blackmailing by the accused.

The judge observed that the accused had initially said that he did not share any photographs with Rind.

However, "during course of his deposition when he [Khaskheli] was shown his and Naila’s photographs, he had to admit the fact and retracted his earlier statement", the judge said.

He admitted that photos had been exchanged, but claimed the fact had no connection with her death, the judge added.

The hearing was adjourned until December 12 after the court ordered the copies of the report to be handed over to all concerned parties.