Tirunelveli NEET centre gets notice in assault case

MADURAI: A day after a case was booked against the proprietor of a private NEET coaching centre in Tirunelveli for allegedly beating a few students for unknown reasons, the officials from the Departments of Social Welfare and Revenue inspected the centre named ‘JAL NEET Academy’ near Tirunelveli new bus stand on Saturday and issued a show-cause notice.

The officials conducted an inquiry which revealed that the coaching centre has been managing a hostel exclusively for 52 girl students without a valid license and the officials issued a show-cause notice. District Child Protection Unit officials were also present during the inspection to look into the allegation that some juveniles were also subjected to harsh treatment, the sources said.

A CCTV footage circulated through social media recently showed Jalaludeen Ahmed, who is a native of Kerala, the proprietor of the centre and trainer ruthlessly beating some students with a cudgel causing injuries. The video involving the enraged trainer beating the students prompted the authorities to take action against the trainer. According to the sources, the students, who devoted almost twelve hours to studies, and the trainer cudgelled them for falling during a break.

Another video showed the trainer throwing footwear at a girl student in a fit of rage as he was annoyed by the way the students’ footwears were arranged haphazardly. The trainer took the footwear to the coaching room upstairs and asked whose footwear it was, before throwing it at the student. The incidents were said to have occurred on September 25, sources said.

Providing the CCTV evidence, one of the students raised the complaint to the Melapalyam police who filed a case against the trainer under Sections 323, 335 and 75 of the JJ Act. Based on media reports, V Kannadasan, a member of the State Human Rights Commission, inspected the centre and ensured a fair investigation.