Disquiet on campuses

A large posse of police personnel in riot gear stood guard at the main entrance of Amal Jyothi College of Engineering at Kanjirappally anticipating turbulent protests

A large posse of police personnel in riot gear stood guard at the main entrance of Amal Jyothi College of Engineering at Kanjirappally anticipating turbulent protests.

It was just a few days since the college reopened after a series of crippling protests against the suicide of Shraddha Satheesh, a student. Rumour was rife that Satheesh and Daya, the parents of Shraddha, would join the protests and the authorities could ill-afford a fresh bout of violence, especially in view of a High Court order.

But Shraddha’s parents stayed back at their home at Thiruvankulam, near Thripunithura, and the protesters dispersed after a few rounds of sloganeering.  “We did not feel like seeing the campus ever again,” says Mr. Satheesh, when asked why they did not turn up for the protest organised by a few friends and relatives.

His daughter, a 20-year-old second-year food technology student, had killed herself at the college hostel on June 2. She was alleged to have taken the extreme step after a teacher seized her cell phone when she was using it in the laboratory.

“I cannot forgive the college authorities for failing to understand the trauma my daughter underwent. They even escalated it. She probably might have felt it was the end of the world. No one from the college management contacted us after the funeral,” says Mr. Satheesh. 

“She was a jovial girl who did not have any issues until that afternoon. She became upset after that conversation with the Head of the Department and even refused to speak to us after reaching the hostel,” he recalls.

The death sparked widespread protests as students, defying restrictions imposed by the college administrators, took over the campus seeking action against those responsible. Various student organisations staged demonstrations outside the campus even as the Catholic Diocese of Kanjirappally, which runs the college, remained unfazed.