TIRUNELVELI: Less than 24 hours after being arrested for allegedly posting obscene comments against a girl student online and released on station bail, J Sumitha, principal (in-charge) of a government women’s college, on Wednesday attended a government function to distribute laptops to students alongside the Palayamkottai MLA and senior officials. The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) staged a protest opposing Sumitha’s presence, but were removed from the venue by the police.
Sumitha and her husband were arrested by the city cyber crime police on Tuesday for allegedly posting obscene and defamatory comments against a student who had earlier lodged a harassment complaint against her with the district administration.
A police officer told TNIE that the message was traced to the couple’s computer using its IP address. “They were arrested on Tuesday evening and released on station bail. A case has been registered under provisions of the Information Technology Act,” the officer said
SFI district secretary Sylas Arul demanded that departmental action, including suspension, be initiated against her. When contacted, P Victoria Thangam, regional joint director of collegiate education, said she had not received any communication regarding Sumitha’s arrest from the Commissioner of Police N Manivannan. She claimed that Sumitha had been falsely implicated.
“Someone accessed her social media account and posted the obscene message. I have informed the commissioner of collegiate education about this,” she said.
Commissioner of Police N Manivannan said he was in the process of sending a written communication regarding Sumitha’s arrest to the collegiate education department.