Protest marches taken out by students’ organisations, including the Students Federation of India (SFI), Kerala Students Union (KSU), and the All India Students Federation (AISF), to Fatima Mata National College here on Thursday, following the death of a student on Wednesday, turned violent. They vandalised a few properties on the campus, before the police intervened and dispersed them.
The KSU and the AISF have called an educational strike in the district on Friday demanding a fair probe into the incident. The college has been closed for an indefinite period.
Rakhi Krishna, a first year BA English student of the college, was found dead on a railway track near the college on Wednesday. Students allege that she jumped in front of the train after she was harassed by college authorities. She was reportedly caught by the authorities for suspected malpractice during the ongoing semester examination. The teacher on exam duty found some writings on her cloth and produced her before the anti-malpractice squad. According to other students, after she was expelled from the hall, the authorities summoned her parents to the college. Rakhi fled from the college and her body was later found on the nearby track, run over by a train. The students of the college had staged a protest on Wednesday alleging that the student was driven to suicide by the authorities and demanding penal action against them.
The Kerala State Youth Commission has registered a suo motu case and sought a report from the District Police Chief within a week.