CHENNAI: Condemning the Nanguneri incident in which a Class XII student and his sister were attacked by a few teenagers over caste, BJP state president K Annamalai on Saturday asked whether School Education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi would explain why this type of violence was happening in the state-run schools.

"Though I welcome the minister's gesture to bear the educational expenses of the victims. When there was no such type of violences in private schools, can he (minister) explain why it was occuring in government schools", he said in a statement here.

Stating that it was reported that the student, who was attacked, was a bright candidate in the school, the BJP leader said it cannot be acceptable that he was discriminated against citing the caste.

Urging the DMK government to take severe action against those involved in the crime, Annamalai alleged "as per the reports, even in this violent incident, DMK functionaries, who were involved, were trying to control the police".