A day after Amal Jyothi Engineering College at Kanjirappally witnessed a wave of protest on Tuesday in connection with the death of a 20-year-old student, the agitators withdrew the protest after Kerala Higher Education Minister's assurance. Sradha Satheesh, a fourth-semester student of food technology, was found dead in her room at the college hostel on June 2.
According to a report on Manorama, the students decided to withdraw the protest after Minister R Bindhu assured to initiate a crime branch investigation into the death. She also said that the college will reopen on Monday.
On Monday, the college announced that it would close in the wake of the protest to cool down the scenario. However, the students refused to vacate. The students also intensified their protest on Tuesday after the police blocked them from entering the campus.
The students said that they would continue the protest until action was taken against the Head of Food Technology department and the hostel warden, as per a report on The Hindu.
The students including Sradha's hotel mates alleged that the HoD and hostel warden were harassing the student. They said that the student took the extreme step since the teachers took her phone away since she was using it in the lab. They also alleged that the hostel warden was trying to divert the doctors who attended her at the hospital by covering up the suicide.
The situation eased a bit after Higher Education Minister Bindu decided to hold a talk with the students and college management on Wednesday. Bindhu and State Cooperation Minister VN Vasavan visited reach the college and held discussions with the students on Wednesday.
Earlier, Bindhu told the media that a police probe is currently on and also one by her department.
"There is no doubt that students' rights have to be respected as in the modern world things are different. We will assure the students that they need not feel jittery that they will be targeted because of the probe that has begun," said Bindhu, as per IANS.