Ottapalam: A first year student of the Nehru Academy of Law at Lakkidi, who was placed under suspension by the college authorities, attempted suicide.
Arshad Ashraf, 20, of Pallikkulam colony, Pirayiri, near Noorani in Palakkad, was admitted to a hospital in Kanniyampuram, after he reportedly consumed poison.
According to his classmates, Arshad, who got suspended from the college last week, returned to college on Wednesday. Seeing Arshad sitting in the classroom, the class teacher asked him to leave. He refused to move out, prompting the teacher to exit the classroom. Arshad consumed poison immediately after the teacher left the room, added the witnesses. His health condition is said to be stable.
The college authorities initiated disciplinary action against Arshad last week after one of his classmates allegedly brought liquor to college. The college principal had summoned eight students, including Arshad, in connection with the incident.
It was said that Arshad and another student from Chavakkad, who argued with the teachers over the issue, were suspended along with their classmate who was accused of bringing alcohol to college.
Both college principal and vice-principal were unavailable for comment.
SFI protest
The Student Federation of India (SFI) staged a protest on the college campus demanding withdrawal of Arshad’s suspension order and action against those who drove him to attempt suicide.
The four-hour-long protest was called off following a meeting held in the presence of Agali DySP P K Subramanyan and Ottapalam CI P Abdul Muneer. Student leaders accepted the decision to resolve the issue at a meeting scheduled for 3 pm on Thursday.
The protest march was led by SFI Palakkad district secretary R Jayadevan, DyFI block secretary T Shibu.
If the student files a complaint, necessary actions will be initiated, said the police officers.
The Nehru Group of colleges had come under the scanner earlier after a first year engineering student, Jishnu Prannoy, was found hanging in the hostel of Nehru College of Engineering and Research Centre, Pambady in Thrissur, in January 2017.
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