MADURAI:
Nirmala Devi, an assistant professor of Devanga Arts College at Aruppukkottai in Virudhunagar district, was arrested on Monday evening for allegedly trying to lure some girl students to do sexual favours for "higher officials" of
Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU).
Police personnel who had stationed themselves outside Nirmala's house by noon forced themselves in around 7pm and took her into custody. The action was taken based on a complaint from college secretary R Ramasamy.
On a day of fast-paced developments, governor
Banwarilal Purohit, who is also chancellor of MKU, ordered a high-level inquiry by retired IAS officer
R Santhanam into the incident, hours after vice-chancellor P P Chellathurai announced an inquiry by a five-member committee led by senate member Lellis Thivakar.
State fisheries minister
D Jayakumar said the government will act and "black sheep" will be removed, even as opposition parties - the DMK, PMK and CPM - reacted strongly to the developments.
The controversy erupted on Sunday when an audio clip of Nirmala's conversation with the girls went viral on social media. On March 21, two days after the girls filed a complaint with the college management, Nirmala was placed under temporary suspension
Representative Image