COIMBATORE: The six-day protest demanding the arrest of teachers in connection with the suicide of SC student A Akilan ended on Monday evening, after Director General of Police Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal ordered the case to be transferred to the CB-CID from the Coimbatore city police.
The agitators, including the boy’s family and members of various organisations, withdrew the stir after staging a demonstration in front of the Race Course police station.
Earlier in the day, representatives of the protesting outfits met Coimbatore Police Commissioner (in-charge) R V Ramya Bharathi and pressed for the arrest of the teachers.
Akilan, a student of Shri K Krishnaswamy Naidu Memorial Higher Secondary School in Peelamedu, died by suicide on October 21. His mother A Kowsalyadevi, in her complaint, alleged that he was harassed by two of his classmates and a teacher over his caste and food habits.
Based on the complaint, Peelamedu police registered a case against two students, class teacher P Vijayakumar and headmaster S Arun Kumar. The two students were detained on Friday and lodged in a juvenile home. The school management has placed the two teachers under suspension. The city police had formed five special teams to investigate the case.
Earlier, the family had refused to accept the body till its two demands — transfer of the case to CB-CID and arrest of the teachers — were met. Though consent for postmortem was given later, the protest continued into Monday.
CPM state secretary P Shanmugam, who joined the demonstration, said the protest was directed only at those responsible for the discrimination, and not against the school itself.
“The class teacher’s behaviour and the indifferent approach of the headmaster triggered the students to tease the victim, leading to his suicide,” he said. CPM district secretary C Padmanaban said the protest has been withdrawn and the cremation will be held on Tuesday.
(To overcome suicidal thoughts, contact TN’s helpline 104 or Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050)
Rs 6 lakh aid, job for kin
Minister V Sampath Kumar on Monday handed over an order sanctioning Rs 6 lakh compensation to the boy’s family and an appointment order for his sister, Nethra, to the post of junior assistant at Anaikatti Tribal Residential School