Students protest seeks justice for Prakash’s suicide

In a suicide note addressed to his parents and relatives, Prakash has alleged that the professor did not give him the liberty to work on the project of his choice, right from when he was in the third year, and sidelined him on the basis of his religious inclination. 

“I realised his motives only in the final year and confronted him, which led to an argument between us,” says one of his suicide notes. Official sources from the college said that Prakash last came to college on September 13. “There was a misunderstanding between him and his HoD, but it was resolved in the presence of his parents. 

However, he stopped coming to college from the next day. We asked his friends to visit the college regarding his final-year project, but on Thursday we were told that he had committed suicide,” said the source. Meanwhile, students of the college gathered in front of the administrative building, protesting against the professors involved and demanding their arrest on Thursday. 

Read More: Student suicide: Action sought against HoD  

Later, S Manoharan, Joint Commissioner (L&O - East), Vinoth Santharam, Assistant Commissioner (Vepery), conducted an inquiry with the college administration and held talks with students, asking them to disperse. They had to explain to the students the procedures involved in making any arrest in such issues and convinced them of action against professors involved, if they were proved guilty. One of the protesting students told DTNext that Prakash was among the toppers in the class and was a regular to college even though he had to commute daily from Vellore. The student said that there was a similar case reported in the institution, back in 2012. 

“We don’t know what happened to the case and we don’t want this incident to be like that,” he said. Prakash’s father Parthiban is a government employee working in Vellore Government Medical College Hospital and has an elder brother.