KASARGOD: A student of the Central University of Kerala dismissed for a Facebook post has attempted to end his life early Tuesday morning. He is out of danger, said doctors at District Hospital in Kanhangad.
Akhil Thazhath, a second-year PG student of International Relations and Politics, was dismissed by vice-chancellor G Gopa Kumar on September 6.
On September 18, the VC called for a meeting with people's representatives to discuss several issues plaguing the university, including Akhil Thazhath's dismissal. In the meeting, Gopa Kumar assured MP P Karunakaran and MLA K Kunhiraman that the decision to dismiss the student would be sent to the Executive Council -- the highest decision-making body of the university -- for reconsideration.
However, after that the university brought out another order barring Thazhath from entering the campus, said students.
"A couple of days ago, when Akhil came to the campus to ask about the status of his dismissal, the security guards did not allow him to enter the campus," said Siddharth Raveendran, a student leader of the SFI. Then he stayed with his university friends, who were dismissed earlier from the hostel for leading a protest demanding better facilities. "Tuesday morning, he left the room and went to the playground near the campus in Periya, where students play football," said a student.
"After spending some time with us, he stepped aside. When we went to check on him, we saw he had slashed his wrist with a glass piece," said a student, who rushed him to the district hospital. The students also found a blood-stained note in Thazhath's pocket blaming the university authorities for the act.
The note purportedly written by the aggrieved student read: -"I cannot describe the pain, cruelty and neglect I am going through. Whenever I take any decision, I cannot forget the faces of the university authorities who have hurt me so much," he wrote. Then naming a few top officials in the letter, he said they were not targetting him alone, but were anti-social too.
Thazhath joined the integrated course offered by the Department of International Relations and Politics, and was now in the second year of the Post Graduate course. His friends said he was worried the university would deprive him of even his bachelor's certificate because of the Facebook post.