Kottayam: Two state ministers will hold talks with the management and the students of Amal Jyothi College of Engineering, Kanjirappally, which has been witnessing a massive protest following the suicide of a female student due to alleged institutional harassment.
Minister for Higher Education R Bindu and Minister for Cooperation V N Vasavan will hold talks with the representatives of the college management and protesting students. The talks will take place at 10 am on Wednesday at Kanjirappally TB.
The discussions are aimed at finding a solution to the demands raised by the students following the death of Sradha Satheesh (20), a second-year food technology student, a statement from Minister Bindu's office said.
Minister R Bindu on Tuesday criticised self-financing colleges in the state for imposing strict rules on campuses. She was reacting to the controversy over the suicide of Sradha. “Colleges should not be so immature. Students have been facing too much pressure due to discipline and moral policing in colleges,” the minister said.
It is alleged that the student died by suicide after facing harassment from her teachers. The management on Tuesday decided to shut the institution indefinitely and asked the students to vacate hostels. However, the agitated students refused to vacate the hostels and decided to continue the protest on campus.
They also alleged that police used unnecessary force against the students at the behest of the management.
The students have demanded to remove the hostel warden and head of the food technology department from their posts.
On Monday, the Students' Federation of India (SFI), the students' wing of the ruling CPM in Kerala, marched to the private engineering college to protest the alleged suicide of the student.
Shraddha, a resident of Ernakulam, was found hanging inside her hostel room on June 2. Students have alleged that the college authorities took her to the hospital saying she fell unconscious.
Police had stopped the SFI march at the gate of the college but the students managed to overpower the security cordon and enter the premises where they staged a sit-in inside the office building.
The college management said they do not know why the student committed such an act. Police said they have registered a case and a probe is on.
