Kochi: The Kerala High Court has ordered police protection for Amal Jyothi College of Engineering in Kanjirappally for a period of one month in view of intense protest by students over the suicide of a girl student.

The High Court issued the directive while considering a petition filed by the college management seeking police protection and an investigation in connection with the girl's death.

Justice N Nagaresh also ordered issuance of expeditious notice to the Students Federation of India (SFI), the Kerala Students Union (KSU), Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) in this regard.

A mass student protest is being held on the college campus under the leadership of various college unions, including the SFI, KSU, and SDPI, ever since Sradha Satheesh, a 20-year-old second-year Food Technology student, was found hanging in her hostel room on June 2.

The court observed orally that it was the responsibility of the police to ensure that no unfortunate incidents take place in the college when it reopens on Monday and more police personnel should be deployed for the purpose.

The court issued directives to the District Police Chief of Kottayam and the Station House Officer of Kanjirappally to ensure the functioning of the college without any hassles, the conduct of the admission process smoothly, and to prevent any hindrance to entry into the campus besides providing protection to the institution.

College plea

The college management and Manager Fr Dr Mathew Paikatt had filed the petitions pointing out that the classes are being disrupted due to the ongoing protests.

They further pointed out that no action has been taken despite their submitting a petition to Kottayam District Police Chief and Kanjirapally Station House officer, requesting measures to ensure the smooth functioning of the college, besides adequate police protection to prevent incidents like denying entry into the campus.

The continuous protest before the college is illegal and unnecessary, they stated in the petition.

The college management had also informed the court that students’ organisations were disrupting the admission process.

Earlier, the government stated that it had been decided to reopen the college on June 12. However, the college management said that even though they had signed the agreement in regard, representatives of the students had not done so and that there was a possibility of more protests occurring.

Meanwhile, the investigating team of the Crime Branch reached the college and recorded the statements of the teachers. The District Police Chief, K Karthik, said that four cases had been registered on the charge of unlawful assembly but no student was among the accused in those cases.