CHENNAI: Students of a private engineering college in Sriperumbudur, located 40 kms off Chennai went on a rampage on Tuesday following the suicide of one of the students on Monday night.
The deceased, Ajith Kumar (21), a second year civil engineering student, had taken the extreme step after the college Principal allegedly chided him in front of the professors for failing in his exams.
Meanwhile, Sriperumbudur police have registered a case against the Principal, Vice-Principal and two others of St Joseph’s College of Engineering for allegedly abetting the suicide of the student. They were booked under sections 306 IPC (abetment of suicide), 506 (i) (criminal intimidation) among others, a police officer said.
Ajith Kumar, a native of Allur village in Chidambaram, was found hanging in his hostel room in the third floor of the building on Monday night. His friends, who noticed this, secured him and moved him to a hospital, where he was declared brought dead. Following this, students on Tuesday ransacked the college property, including the Principal’s office. “The labs, canteens, library and the staff offices were damaged by the students. Some of them even rounded up the government hospital where the student’s body was kept for autopsy,” a senior police officer said.
The student’s father M.Gnanamani, a former panchayat president too filed a complaint with the local police suspecting foulplay after which a case was registered against the Principal and others. The body was handed over to the family members after autopsy at the Kancheepuram Government Hospital. “We have not received any complaint from the college management regarding the vandal act. Further investigations are on,” a police officer said.