KOCHI: Tension prevailed for a few hours in Kalamassery on Friday after a protest march taken out by the students of the Government Polytechnic College demanding an inquiry into the suicide of a third-year student, allegedly due to torture by college authorities, turned violent on Friday.
Four students and a police officer sustained injuries in the clash that occurred around noon. The police have registered a case in connection with the incident.
According to the police, the SFI was leading a strike since Wednesday and the college was closed indefinitely following the stir. On Friday, SFI took out a march to Kalamassery town from the college. When the march returned to the college, a section of protesters attempted to barge into the college and a few jumped over the wall to enter the campus.
A large posse of police personnel were deployed in the area and the police resorted to lathicharge to disperse the protesters. In the melee, the protesters vandalised flower pots in front of the office of the principal. A few of them hurled stones at the police, said an officer. By noon, the police managed to bring the situation under control.
Prajith Pramod, 20, was reportedly found hanging in his house in Perumpadappu on Tuesday afternoon. The protesters, who launched an agitation in the college on Wednesday, alleged that he ended his life after his parents were informed by the teachers that he could not appear for the examinations due to a shortage in attendance.
The agitators alleged that there were lapses on the part of the college authorities in handling the situation. They commenced the protest march on Friday demanding an inquiry after the college authorities refuted allegations that there were lapses on the part of the head of the department in the manner in which the shortage of attendance was conveyed to his parents.
The college authorities held talks with SFI leaders and agreed to carry out an inquiry and submit a report to the Directorate of Technical Education about the incident. They also agreed to stop proceedings against students for attendance shortage.