Tamil Nadu’s Kallakurichy district witnessed violent protests on Sunday over the death of a 17-year-old girl studying in a private residential faculty at Kaniyamur near Chinna Salem. Protesters entered the school premises where the woman committed suicide and vandalized property. A number of buses were also set on fire during the agitation. In the wake of the violence, Chief Minister MK Stalin issued a proclamation and appealed for peace.
To bring the situation under control the police had to resort to baton charges. Later, an additional five hundred personnel were deployed at the spot, the Director General of Police (DGP) said, adding that all those who attacked the faculty would be arrested for disturbing the law and order situation.
“A small group of people came to the school to protest. Provisions have been made for protesters but large crowds have gathered. Instead of a peaceful protest they started attacking… had to lathi-charge. Now more than five hundred additional policemen have been sent. We want to arrest all the accused who attacked a school, no one will be spared…we also have the video,” DGP C Silendra Babu instructed ANI.
Meanwhile, Stalin advised the protesters to maintain peace and assured severe punishment for those responsible for the student’s death. In a tweet, he wrote, “Violence worries me. The accused will be punished after the police investigation into the school girl’s death is over. I requested DGP and Home Secretary to travel to Kallakuri. I request people to maintain peace.
The state school training wing has directed the chief schooling officer, Kallakurichi, to submit a special document on the incident.
The 17-year-old girl, a Class 12 student at a non-public residential college in Chinnasalem, about 15 km from here, was found lifeless in the hostel premises on July 13, news agency PTI reported. The girl, confined in a room on the third floor of the hostel, was once suspected to have ended her existence by jumping from the upper floor to the floor.
According to the post-mortem report, the girl appears to have died due to hemorrhage and shock due to multiple injuries, hospital authorities said. “A final opinion on the chemical analysis of the viscera is pending,” check an announcement from the Kallakurichi Government Medical College and Hospital.
A case was registered by the police and an investigation is on. “School girl died due to herbalism, we filed a case. The parents of the deceased have approached the High Court for another autopsy,” a top police official told ANI.
