Audio of HOD asking Chennai student’s caste goes viral, complaint filed

CHENNAI: In the case of caste discrimination at Pachaiyappa’s Government College, another audio of the Tamil HOD asking a student's caste went viral on Monday evening. In the second audio, the HOD can be heard insisting a student reveal his caste over a phone call.

"Tell me your caste, I want to know,"says the HOD in the audio. Meanwhile, a similar audio went viral on June 15.

Subsequently, students of Pachaiyappa’s Government College who allegedly faced caste discrimination by the HOD submitted a written complaint to the inquiry committee on Monday.

A student on the condition of anonymity said, “The inquiry committee set up in the college called us on Monday. We verbally shared the details of the ordeal and also submitted a written complaint.”

“We have also submitted the second audio to the committee members to thoroughly probe the issue. The committee has also called in the HOD to conduct an inquiry,” added the student.

College sources reveal that the inquiry committee has been set with HODs of five departments, who will file a report on Tuesday evening.

On June 15, an audio went viral on social media where the senior faculty with 33 years’ experience can be heard asking the caste backgrounds of certain students.

In the audio, the HOD besides enquiring about the caste of the students, can also be heard saying students of certain communities are creating problems for others. “Dalit students are creating caste problems. Be careful with them,” says the HOD in the audio to another student.