CHENNAI: The headmaster and a teacher of a private school in Peelamedu were suspended on Thursday following the suicide of a Class XI student, Akilan (16), amid allegations of caste-based harassment. The suspension came as the student’s family and various organisations intensified their demand for the arrest of four persons named in the complaint.
According to a Maalaimalar report, the Tamil Nadu State Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has issued a notice to Coimbatore City Police Commissioner (in-charge) Ramya Bharathi, directing the police to submit a report on the action taken in the case within a week.
Earlier, Akilan’s parents, Ashokbkumar and Kousalya Devi, along with relatives and representatives of 23 organisations, petitioned Coimbatore Collector Pavan Kumar, demanding the arrest of the school headmaster Arunkumar, teacher Vijayakumar and two fellow students. They also urged the authorities to take steps to prevent caste-based discrimination in schools. The Collector assured them that appropriate action would be taken.
The family had staged a road blockade near the Peelamedu police station, alleging that caste-based harassment by the four had driven Akilan to take his life. They demanded that the police arrest the accused and produce them before a court.
Following the protest, the Peelamedu police registered a case against the four under three sections, including the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. However, the family continued its protest into the night, insisting that the accused be arrested before they accepted the student’s body from the Coimbatore Government Hospital mortuary.
Akilan was found hanging at his residence on the morning of October 21. His mother, who had returned home for lunch from her workplace, discovered his body. Akilan was studying in Class XI at a private school in Peelamedu, while his father runs a laundry business near Walayar and his mother works at a house in Peelamedu.
The incident led to heightened tension in the city, with police deploying a heavy posse at the Coimbatore Collectorate ahead of the family’s protest on Thursday.