Tamil Nadu protesters set buses afire, clash with cops over girl's death

KALLAKURICHI: A protest over the suicide of a Class XII girl student of a private school in Kallakurichi district in north Tamil Nadu turned violent on Sunday with protesters forcibly entering the school premises and setting its buses and a police bus on fire. They pelted police personnel with stones, injuring 52 people, including deputy inspector general (DIG) of police M Pandian and Kallakurichi superintendent of police S Selvakumar. Kallakurichi district collector P N Sridhar denied that police fired in the air twice to quell the violence and said only tear gas shells were used.
Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin directed the home secretary and DGP to visit the spot. In view of the tense situation, the Kallakurichi district administration imposed section 144 CrPC in Kallakurichi taluk and few more areas until July 31. Kallakurichi collector Sridhar said the situation was brought under control and requested people not to indulge in violence.
The 17-year-old plus two student was found dead in the hostel of a private matric higher secondary school in Kallakurichi district early Wednesday.